Comfort Comes in Many Ways
by Charlie O'Kelley
Summary: The aftermath of the 3XK episode.  Beckett and Castle comfort each other.  Chapter 1 is rated T simply because of what the show itself dealt with, Chapter 2 will be rated Mature. Chapter 2 has been updated.  Story is now complete.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Notes:

This is my first Castle fic. Part one is rated T due to the issues that the show itself dealt with. Parts 2 and 3 (maybe more) will definately be rated M. If you don't like graphic sexual scenes, please do not read. Reviews make me happy, if you can read and review that would be like an early Christmas pressie for me. This story is mostly completed. I just need to finish up part 7, sent it and part 6 to my beta. And I need to decide if there needs to be another juicy scene in part 4. It seems fine without but I might want to add something anyway. I originally posted parts 1 and 2 in November and they are being updated now with this note and typo, grammatical, and spelling corrections. If you read it originally, it should be much different.

Insert all the standard disclaimers here. I don't own these characters. Drat.

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Chapter 1Kate and Rick comfort each other after the Triple Killer escapes.

She raced up the stairs, and didn't bother to wait for Esposito to get there, she just kicked the door down herself.

"Castle!" she called seeing him right there tied to a chair, facing away from the flying bits of the door.

"Clear, he's gone. I'm fine. Ryan needs an ambulance," he tried to be matter of fact.

"No, I don't" Ryan said weakly but stubbornly from the floor.

"Hey, what the hell happened here," Esposito asked Ryan and he kneeled to help his partner. Beckett holstered her gun and leaned down to untie Castle and spoke softly to the back of his head, "I'm so glad that you're okay."

"He's the Triple Killer. He set Gates up to be the copycat," Castle explained.

"I know. I did the math when you and Ryan didn't come back from talking to Jerry," she said as she walked in front of him.

"How did you know to come here?"

She took a deep breath, "Your mom called. She said that you told her you loved her and she figured something must be terribly wrong."

"I figured she might," he said then paused. "Good girl."

Beckett called in to the precinct to update the Captain. He told her that he would start making sure that all the necessary APB's and such were posted immediately. Castle reached out for his phone and called his mother. He didn't go into detail, he just told her that he was okay and would be home shortly and will explain it all then. When the forensics team got there, he needed to stand up and leave the room. He knew that Beckett was going to be a while and he wandered over to a bench by the pool. Soon Beckett walked over, sat close beside him and handed him a cup of coffee.

"Here you go."

"Thanks," he replied.

"Mm-hmm," she responded, rubbing her hands together. "Tell me something Castle. Why did he let you live?"

He turned to face her. "To punish me." She looked at him, meeting his eyes. "To make me pay for ruining his plans." He turned away. "Now he's going to kill again all because I couldn't stop him. And I feel so…" his voice trailed off. Beckett looked at him, surprised that the writer didn't have the words but knowing what he meant.

"I know the feeling," she said as she reached out and put her hand on his knee.

"I know you do," he said he turned to look at her profile and he covered her hand with his.

At the pool - Becketts Point of View

I sat there with my hand on his knee trying to give what ever comfort that I could. I hadn't touched him like that before so I was about to pull my hand away, when he covered mine with his. We sat there for a little while before he asked me softly, "So what do you do after something like this?"

"I call John."

"Who is John?" he asked finally showing a hint of his incessantly curious personality.

"Well he's, um, he's my workout buddy," I said slightly embarrassed.

"So you just go to the gym and fight it out?"

"Most of the time." I knew that he would understand and I awaited the innuendo.

"So he is a friend with benefits," Castle asked somewhat surprised. 

I smiled wryly, "That's not what I usually call him but yes." 

He had to have been shocked by what I said because he tried to pull his hand away. I didn't want to let him go quite yet so I attempted to wrap my fingers around his hand. He wasn't trying to pull away though, he simply wove his fingers together with mine.

"So, why not just date him?" Castle asked.

"I just don't think that it would work out. He's not exactly the kind of guy you take home to Dad."

"So, he's a bad boy," he said.

"Yeah, and I just don't need to tell my dad about my sex life."

"No kidding. I hope I don't have to worry about that with Alexis for a while yet. Like another couple to 20 years." I chuckled.

"So what will you do tonight?" I asked him.

"Go home and be with my other favorite women," he said lightly squeezing my hand. I wondered if he actually meant to imply that I was another of his favorite women.

"Tell them I said hi," I said knowing that it was time for him to leave.

"Come with me," he said more as a question than a statement.

I knew that it wasn't a good idea, but once I looked into his eyes, I wasn't able to tell him no. He almost clung to my hand until we got to my car when I finally had to pull away. The drive to his place wasn't long and after I parked and walked around the car, he took my hand again. I looked into his eyes and it was almost as if he was daring me to pull away. I wasn't able to, at least not yet. He was in such a fragile state and I didn't want to hurt him besides, my emotions weren't terribly stable either right now.

Castle pulled out his keys, unlocked his door, and was nearly tackled by Alexis with Martha close behind. He dropped my hand as he hugged his daughter tightly. Martha took my arm and led us all into the apartment before she hugged me.

"Thank you for keeping him safe," she whispered before she turned to hug her son and granddaughter. I wasn't standing there but a second when Alexis, with tears streaming down her face, turned to look at me then held out one arm to include me into the family hug. I didn't hesitate and was soon held by her and her father. I longed to cry with Alexis but I knew that I couldn't, not yet; I just buried my face into Castle's neck and enjoyed his scent and arm around me. I have no idea how long we all stood there when Martha and Alexis finally pulled away. Alexis looked at me and her dad then said "I know that you probably need to talk about what happened so I am going to head to bed. Good night, Daddy. I love you. Thank you so much for taking care of my dad, Detective Beckett."

"Good night, sweetheart," said Castle. "I love you, too."

"Good night, Alexis," I said.

"Thanks again for helping my son," Martha said.

"I'm just glad you called me when you did," I said. She waved off my comment.

"I love you, Richard," Martha said lightly patting his cheek.

"I love you too, Mom and I am sorry that my telling you that is enough to scare you into calling the police," he tried to joke.

"Oh son, I didn't call the police, I called Kate," she said as she walked from the room.

"Thank you so much for coming to get me and for being here for me," he said as turned back to me and surprised me by pulling me back into his arms.

"I'm so glad that you're okay, Rick." I repeated as I ducked my head to his chest.  
I didn't want to burden him with my tears, I was there to comfort him, and so I tried to hold them back.

"Sorry, don't mind me," Martha said as she came back downstairs and picked up some papers. I turned my head further away because I didn't want her to see that my eyes were red from almost crying. "I wanted to get my screenplay. Why don't you two go sit on the couch and I'll bring you some drinks?"

We pulled away from each other but Rick clung to my hand. Moments later, we were on the couch and Martha brought a tray of several drinks, sodas, water, and alcohol along with a box of tissues. As soon as she left the room, we looked into each other's eyes and reached for each other. I have never been a very touchy person but I knew that he was. Usually he would make all sorts of sex jokes but tonight he wasn't so I knew how upset he was.

We sat there for a while when I realized that Rick was shivering. I reached for the blanket on the back of the couch and tried to pull it over us. I knew what he was feeling, helpless and at fault. I didn't know what to do but I just stroked his hair. I wanted to tell him that everything was going to be okay, but until we caught him, I couldn't.

"Oh, Rick. We are going to do everything we can first thing in the morning to get Jerry. I promise."

"I know, Kate. I just don't know what I'll do if he kills again. It would be all my fault."

"No it isn't, Rick. It's his fault, he's a sociopath. You are just trying to help."

"And getting in the way and causing trouble. I wouldn't be surprised if you refuse to let me shadow you anymore," he said sadly.

I normally would have made a joke about that but knew that this wasn't the time or the place, I just held him a bit tighter. The thought of him not being there at work anymore wasn't one that I wanted to entertain now. "If you don't want to shadow me anymore, I understand it. But I hope you don't leave. You can be very helpful at times and I just like having you around," I admitted both to him and myself.

He pulled back a bit to look into her eyes, "The pulling your pigtails thing?" he said with a slight hint of a smile as he gently tugged a lock of my hair.

"Yeah," I said as my eyes started to tear up again.

"Hey, why are you crying?" he asked gently.

"When Martha called and told me what you said, I knew that something was wrong, just as she said. I didn't think I was going to see you again. Not alive at least. And that rather scared me," I said.

Somehow, he realized that it was his turn to comfort me; he lowered one arm, and slipped my legs over his, across his lap. He traced his finger down my cheek before running his hand to the back of my head and lowering his forehead to mine. I thought that he was going to kiss me and while I would have welcomed it, I didn't think that tonight was the night for that.

"I intend to pull your pigtails for a long time, Kate. I promise," he said as he once again pulled me close. I buried my face into his neck and finally let the tears fall. Normally, I wouldn't even think of letting him see me cry but tonight was different. Tonight was all about getting past the pain to be able to focus on catching the killer tomorrow.

The end part 1 of 7


	2. Chapter 2

Author's notes:

I had several people comment on this chapter and saying that it was OOC for Beckett. I re-read it and realized that I had forgotten to put something in here that I had intended to do. Hopefully, this will make it a little less OOC.

* * *

Chapter 2 Kate and Rick comfort each other in different ways after the 3XK case is resolved.

The next day - Castle's POV

I woke up with the scent of cherries tickling my nose. For the past year or so I have associated that with Beckett but why did I smell that now? I opened my eyes to find the woman in question curled up in my arms on my lap. Then I remembered the events of last night. As much as I just wanted to go back to sleep and keep her in my arms, I knew that we needed to get to work. I needed to catch the Triple Killer right now more than I needed to hold her. I wasn't able to resist nuzzling her hair and smelling the fading scent of her shampoo.

"Kate, we need to get up," I said rubbing her shoulder.

"Hmm? I wanna sleep. I'm comfy, Rick," she said cuddling in closer. I reached out and eased her legs away from my morning erection. I didn't want her to get the wrong idea.

"I know," I said with a small smile, happy to think that she trusted me enough to be so at ease with me, if only in her sleep. "We need to go catch Jerry."

Kate's eyes shot open, confused for a moment as to why she was waking up in my lap. I held her just enough so that she couldn't run.

"Castle, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep on you."

"That's okay, Kate. It was late when you dozed off. I didn't want to wake you and make you drive home. Thank you for staying," I said looking into her eyes. I wanted to say more but for the first time, I knew that I could say it later. Last night definitely changed things between us but it was more important to take care of some other things first. I let go of her and she stood then looked at the stairs.

"Morning, Dad. Detective Beckett," Alexis said looking curiously at us.

"Morning, pumpkin. Can you help me start the coffee?" I asked wanting to try to explain about Kate.

"Sure," she said as we walked into the kitchen. "Dad, before you say anything, you don't need to explain anything to me. You both obviously needed to talk, who better that each other, right?"

"How did I get such a smart kid?" I asked amazed at her intelligence and ability to figure out nuances.

"I haven't a clue," she smiled and gave me a quick hug. "Detective Beckett, would you like a coffee?"

"Call me Kate, Alexis. Yes, that would be great," she commented as she walked to the kitchen.

"Kate, can I talk to you?" I asked, afraid that she wasn't going to like what I had to ask.

"Okay," she said glancing at Alexis. My daughter looked between the two of us.

"I'm going to go get ready for school."

"Okay, sweetheart but don't leave without talking to me first. It's important." She looked at little worried but nodded then disappeared up the steps.

"Okay, Castle. What is it?"

"I need to stop Jerry but I haven't a clue where he is going to go now. I was wondering if I could ask some of my friends for help. They write about murderers and people who catch them so maybe they have some other ideas on where he might go. Besides, what is the point of having strings to pull, if I don't pull them occasionally?" I said, knowing that I was probably going to have a fight on my hands.

"That sounds like a great idea." I have to say that was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I know I wasn't able to hide my surprised look. "I'll talk to Captain Montgomery when I get in and see what we can arrange. You go ahead and make your calls and I'll see you at work, okay?"

"Thank you, Kate," I said with feeling as I reached out to touch her arm. I knew the last time I had involved a friend in a case, she didn't want to speak with me for a while.

"Thank you for asking, Rick," she responded and giving my hand a brief squeeze.

As soon as Kate left, I showered quickly then started making phone calls. Alexis and Mother came downstairs just as I was hanging up from one call. They sat down, knowing that I was finally going to tell them everything.

"Okay, here's basically what happened. The guy we thought was a serial killer was actually set up by the real killer. The actual killer knocked Ryan out, he is okay, just a mild concussion and a couple of stitches and tied me up. That is when you called Mother. He was holding a gun on me. I knew that my telling you I loved you would alarm you but sound reasonable to him." I couldn't look at my mother when I said that. I will feel guilty over that for a while.

"How did you escape, kiddo?" Mom asked me rubbing my arm.

"I didn't. He just left. He told me that he was going to kill again and that it would be all my fault." Alexis hopped off her chair and came to give me a hug.

"That is why I am not going to take no for an answer on what I am about to say," I could see the confusion on both faces. "I need you both to leave town, today. This morning, if possible."

"No!" they both insisted.

"He knows my name, probably can find where we live and he wants to do what ever he can to punish me. Him killing anyone would be bad enough but I wouldn't be able to live with myself if he even came close to hurting either one of you. I've already called your school and let them know you will be out for a while due to a family emergency with your mother in Florida."

"But she's filming in Australia right now," Alexis said confused.

"I know. I don't want to lead him to her either. Mother, I would like you to go with Alexis. Don't tell me where, just somewhere away from here for a while. I need you both to be safe."

"Okay, son," she agreed quickly. "Let me call my agent and I'll let them know I have to take my granddaughter to her mother. Alexis, lets go and pack."

"No, don't take the time. Just go somewhere and you can buy what ever you need when you get there," I told them as I pulled my wallet and handed my mother my credit card. She looked shocked that I handed it to her and not Alexis.

"How are we going to know when this is all over, Richard?"

"I'll call you. Or Kate will," I didn't want to say that would happen only if I was dead. "Just to be safe though, don't pay attention to any phone calls that aren't from Kate or myself, Ryan, Esposito, or Captain Montgomery."

"What do you mean?" asked my daughter.

"If someone called to tell me that one of you were hurt, then I would drop everything and go to where they told me, it would be a perfect trap. I trust the 12th precinct and only them with your lives. Also, if you leave, I know that they can't trick me that way." I stood up, took a deep breath, and hugged my daughter then my mother.

At the precinct, I took a cup of coffee to Kate knowing that she hadn't finished the one that Alexis made her. "Here, Beckett," I said having to bit my tongue and not say 'you left this at home.'

"Thanks, Castle," she said. "James Patterson and Michael Connelly are waiting for you in the interrogation room three."

"The interrogation room?" I asked.

"Yeah, the captain said to put them in there since the cameras and such in there are down for some reason. Tech can't get in until Monday to fix them so we can just set everything up in there and not be interrupted. Captain Montgomery will give me the files that you can share with them. He is going to want to hold something back but I am not sure what yet. Judge Markway is in the captain's office. He doesn't want to hear all the evidence but he wants to be close by to sign any warrants that we need."

"Good." I looked around, everyone was busy or gone so I thought it would be safe to say something. "Kate, if anything should happen to me-"

"Nothing is going to happen to you," she said adamantly.

"But just in case, call Alexis. They are leaving town, not sure where they are going. I told them not to believe any calls except from you, the boys, or the captain."

"Okay, Castle," she said while looking sad. "I'll let the guys know. Let's go tell Montgomery, get the files and start going through everything."

"Kate," I stopped her once again. "I just sent away the people that I care about the most to keep them safe. Please be safe."

She looked at me and I once again wished that I could read her mind. I didn't really intend to say it that way but it was the truth. Finally, she just nodded then led the way to the captain's office.

Beckett took charge of the impromptu meeting and went over each case one at a time as if none of us knew anything about them. Every now and then, something would catch someone's attention. Esposito left to go review some things then a little while later, he returned to let us know that Lanie and Clark Murray, my friend who helped me with Beckett's mother's case, were going to go over everything with a fine tooth comb down in forensics.

I had just walked back from getting another coffee when Esposito came back with Lanie, Clark, and a stack of files. They didn't look happy.

"Hey, Castle. Have a seat," Esposito said.

I nearly stumbled to the chair beside Beckett, knowing that this was the worst news. I felt her hand lightly on my back and this small show of affection meant a lot to me. Lanie handed me a file folder. I opened it up and saw a copy of a death certificate for one Jerry Tyson.

"What? I don't understand," I said as I slid the papers to Beckett.

"From what I can piece together after he left the safe house last night, he decided to do some jaywalking of all things, he got hit by a cabbie," Esposito explained. "The hospital pronounced him DOA. He didn't have any identification on him so he was listed as a John Doe. This morning they had someone run his prints and it came back as Jerry Tyson."

"Why didn't you let us know right away?" asked Beckett. I was glad she was able to speak because I didn't think I was able to right now.

"Beckett, if I called you out of here, Castle would have assumed that the Triple Killer had killed again, and I didn't want put him through that. I didn't want to say anything until I was able to prove that it was Tyson. That is why I got Lanie and Dr. Murray."

"Castle, we haven't gotten the DNA results back yet, obviously but everything else points to the John Doe from the hospital last night being Jerry Tyson," Lanie explained. "They are the same physical size, look the same, the dental x-rays match, the blood type match and even the full body x-rays match."

"Full body x-rays?" Beckett asked.

"According to the medical records," added Clark as he handed me another file, "Tyson had broken his left arm when he was about 10. And he broke a couple of ribs while in jail. The x-rays confirm that those bones on the John Doe had suffered the same breaks at the same ages."

"So why did you run all these tests?" asked James Patterson.

"Yeah, especially if you knew who it was?" asked Michael Connelly.

"Because Esposito knew that Castle wouldn't believe that this was over so easily," Beckett answered for Esposito.

"Exactly," he nodded. "Bro, I know that you can come up with some pretty wild theories and you know I like them but this one. This one was too close."

I really didn't know what to say. I just sat there shocked and barely even mumbled a good bye to my friends. I sat staring at the files the Esposito brought in. No matter how much I hoped that this case would be over quickly it just didn't seem right that it was. And all because the guy went jaywalking? That just didn't seem possible. We worked so hard going over every detail of each case again and now it's over like that? It seemed so…

"Castle, are you okay?"

"Anticlimactic."

"What?" asked a startled Beckett.

I shook my head and realized that I had said that word aloud. "I was just thinking that we had worked so hard to end this case and some cabbie did it for us, it's just anticlimactic."

"Castle, just go home and relax."

"I don't have anyone to go home to, Beckett. I sent everyone that cares about me away," I said angrily.

"What about Gina? Or did you send her away too?" she asked.

"No, she's just gone. Too much time has past and all that," I tried to explain. I wasn't really focusing on the conversation though because I was getting mad. Mad at some fool serial killer who went jaywalking. How was that for stupid?

"Well, we care about you here," she said sounding miffed that I hadn't thought of them at the precinct.

"Yeah, but I don't think Ryan or Esposito are really the cuddly type," I said nastily.

"Don't tell me that playboy writer Richard Castle can't find someone to cuddle with," she said sounding rather pissed off now.

"I'm not really a playboy. That was my first publisher's idea. Sure, I like being around women but think about it," I raised my voice. "I was raised by a woman who took me to theaters where I spent more time around women, I live with two women, I work with one and write about another. So yes, I like women, it just doesn't mean that I sleep with them all."

"You actually think I'll believe that you don't have one night stands?" she said raising her voice also.

"I am a product of a one night stand. Do you actually _think_ that I would even possibly put a kid through that? Hell, Alexis is the only reason that I married Meredith in the first place. And that marriage was obviously a mistake. I married Gina to try to give Alexis something close to a normal life but that was a mistake too," I was practically yelling now.

"How about all the women I see you with in the paper or tabloids?" she asked softly. I had to be my overworked imagination but she actually sounded almost jealous.

"Most of the women in the tabloids and papers just want to be seen with me, want my money or my connections. I want someone who just wants ME," I yelled before lowering my voice. "And Alexis, we are a package deal. Most women don't seem to realize that. They all assume, like you did," I said more accusingly than I intended, "that I am just a party animal. I thought you knew me better than that, Beckett."

"I know that you are a great father, Castle. Any woman should be happy to know your daughter, she keeps you in line," she smiled.

I squinted at her. I know she was trying to be funny but I really wasn't in a laughing mood right now. I knew that this fight was going too far into details that I hadn't meant to share with her right now but I couldn't help it.

"And on the rare occurrence that I find a woman who accepts Alexis, she doesn't trust me because of my reputation. But I can promise you one thing, Kate Beckett. I have never cheated on anyone. Never!" We both stepped to opposite sides of the table to take a deep breath.

"And I'm sorry, I don't have a 'friend with benefits' as you say." I knew I was being harsh but I couldn't help it.

"I never said friend with benefits, that was your term," she was obviously pissed off at me now. "Mine was fuck buddy."

I was shocked to hear her say that word as she rarely used foul language.

"And besides, that's over. He doesn't want to see me anymore," she said not meeting my eyes.

"Why not? Did you decide you don't like the bad boys anymore?" I put my hands flat on the table and leaned over.

"I said something over Memorial Day weekend that he took offense at," she replied. I wondered at the timing of things since Memorial Weekend was when I left for the Hamptons with Gina. After I had already asked Kate.

"What did you say?" I asked quietly, needing to know.

She looked away, and said "Turns out it isn't good form to yell out another guy's name."

"What name did you call out?" I had no business to ask but part of me had to.

"Castle," she sounded exasperated as she also leaned over the table. I wasn't able to tell exactly what her tone meant.

"Are you saying that like 'Castle stop being an ass' or that 'Castle' was the name you called out," knowing that it had to be the former. I just wanted to make her madder so we could yell more. I would even accept a slap across the face since I knew that I deserved it. Anything to get rid of this anticlimactic feeling.

"Both," she said quietly while meeting my eyes.

I didn't think I just acted. I reached out my right hand, slipped it around to the back of her neck and pulled her close and kissed her with as much passion as I felt for her. After just a moment, she responded to my kiss, which just amazed me. I leaned back just a few inches to look into her eyes and try to read her mind again. I was almost expecting her to haul off and deck me, but she brushed some of the files off the table. Taking that as an invitation, I sat on the table and swung my legs around to the other side. Once there, I reached out with both arms and pulled her close between my knees into another kiss. I had wanted to kiss her like this the first night I met her in this very room even. Her fingers were tangled in my hair, just as my fingers were in hers. A few moments later, she broke the kiss to work her way down my jaw then she lowered her hands down my back and tugged my shirt up. I know that she had to feel my erection and this time I wasn't trying to hide it from her. I actually lowered my hands to her hips to pull her closer. I turned to lightly nip her earlobe before I spoke.

"Do you want me to stop?" I asked. I would if I had to but I was so hoping that she wouldn't ask me to.

She didn't answer; she just reached down and rubbed my straining erection through my slacks before reaching for my belt. I wasn't able to think anymore, I just went on instinct. My hands moved to her pants, wishing she were wearing a skirt today, and quickly slipped them down her beautiful legs. She stepped out of her pants as she finally reached into my boxers and touched me, my cock jumping in her hand. I stood up, dropped my pants and leaned into her, pushing her back, as I squeezed her backside and pulled her leg around my waist. She wrapped her arms around my shoulders, hopped up and wrapped her other leg around my waist. I pushed her up against the mirrored wall and hesitated a moment. I had to be sure that she really wanted this.

"Yes," was all she said, as she seemed to read my mind.

I entered her in one hard thrust, drawing groans from the both of us. I paused for a moment just feeling her around me. She once again nipped my ear, obviously telling me without words to keep going, and I was lost. I began thrusting and I knew that I wasn't going to last too long. I slipped one hand between us, and small, incredibly erotic whimpers escaped from her throat as I played with her most sensitive spot.

"Castle!" she yelled as she suddenly climaxed, squeezing me with her arms, her legs, and everything else.

"Beckett," I groaned as I came, somehow not yelling her name.

We stood there, arms tightly around each other for a few moments. This had felt so good, but at what cost I wondered. I was so afraid that she was going to regret this. I had always known, or at least hoped, that one day we would make love but I never expected our first and probably only time would be up against the mirror in the interrogation room. As much as I wanted to stay just as we were, I knew I had to sit down before I fell down. Acrobatic sex is always great fun, but I usually do it in a bed, not standing up. I leaned back slightly, noticed the chair behind me and not yet wanting to let her go, I held tight to Beckett and sat down. She shuddered in a delicious way around me as I let my hands slide up and down her bare legs that have always intrigued me. We both slowly came back to reality and caught our breath, my head tucked into her neck.

"Castle," she said softly. "Rick, we need to get up."

"Do we have to?" I whined as I pulled back to look at her trying to gauge her reaction. Her reaction was to squeeze me with her inner muscles. "Dear God, woman, are you trying to kill me?"

"We really should get up; we probably shouldn't have done this here."

"So you aren't wishing this didn't happen?" I asked tentatively.

"No, Rick. It just shouldn't have happened here, especially in the interrogation room. Thank goodness the cameras are all broken." I looked over at the mirror and realized that if the cameras weren't broken, she probably would have decked me when I kissed her.

"Shall we take this somewhere more appropriate? And maybe do something crazy?" she asked with a smile.

"You mean like make love in a bed?" I asked excited.

"Yes, I mean a bed."

"Yes, please." I kissed her one more time then helped her stand up. We both reached for our pants, hers on the floor and mine around my ankles. Once we were dressed we looked in the mirror to make sure any buttons were buttoned correctly and such.

"Did you bite me?" she asked when she noticed a small mark on her neck.

"Maybe just a little," not even realizing that I did that.

"Oh, I will make you pay for that," she smiled as I walked up behind her and looked at us in the mirror.

"Promises, promises. Besides, I've already told you I'd be happy to let you spank me," I said with a big smile.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 Things slow down a bit before heating back up at Rick's loft.

After I made sure that my hair and clothes were as reasonable as possible, I decided to brave the bullpen. I asked Castle to wait a little bit and to pick up the scattered files because I suspected that if the guys didn't know what had just happened, they would by seeing us together. And if they did know, I would never live it down.

"Yo, Boss. Captain wants to see you," called out Esposito. I nodded and headed in the direction of his office, slightly worried about what I might hear.

"Beckett, we got lucky today."

"Yes, sir," I agreed hoping that I didn't blush at all.

"Esposito is working on any paperwork that might need to be done. I want you to go home and relax. Captain's orders. I don't want to see you in here again for the rest of the weekend. Is that understood?" he said gruffly.

"Yes, sir," I said, knowing that he thought he was going to have a fight on his hands to keep me from here. Little did he know that I had some important plans that just might take up the weekend.

"Oh and tell Castle, I said the same to him," he called out to me when he saw Castle walk over to my desk and flop into what he calls 'his' chair.

"Captain said he doesn't want to see either of us for the weekend. Said to go home and relax." I wasn't able to meet his eyes.

"Okay. I'll walk you out if you're ready to go?"

"I just need to finish up a few things real quick," I said. I hopped on my email and sent a quick message to Lanie, to thank her for her extra research and to break our Saturday night plans to go out for a drink. Before I could do much more than straighten up some files, my phone rang.

"Beckett,"

"You don't need to thank me, girl," Lanie said over the headset.

"Well, I appreciate it and I know I'm not the only one," I said with a glance over to Castle.

"You just tell writer boy he can thank you instead. Preferably by a wild passionate weekend in bed," Lanie said as I blushed furiously.

"Lanie!" I said shocked. "I need to go, have a good weekend."

I could feel Castle's eyes on me and I avoided them as I went to Esposito's desk to thank him also.

"Thanks for all you did today. I appreciate it," I said.

"No problem, boss. You have a good weekend," he said.

"You, too." I walked by my desk on the way out and Castle fell in step behind me.

"So what did Lanie say to make you blush like that?" Castle asked as soon as the elevator closed.

"I thanked her for her help and said that I was sure that you appreciated it as well. She said I didn't need to thank her and that you could thank me instead of her and preferably by a wild passionate weekend in bed."

"I always knew I liked her," he said with a bit of a smug smile as I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

I drove my car over to Rick's loft and we walked up to his door. In the time it took us to leave the precinct, we both cooled down from the heat of the moment and I wondered how we should proceed. Did he just want to go and hop right back into bed? I didn't think I would really mind but…

"So is it just a little weird right now?" he asked almost reading my mind.

"Yes. I don't normally sleep with a guy on the first date and never before the dates," I said.

"Well, then let's go out on a date," he smiled his adorably charming smile as he lightly took me into his arms.

"And you'll be okay if I don't want to have sex tonight?" I asked mostly hypothetically.

"I am not going to be shouting from the rooftops that we AREN'T having sex but I will be more than glad to wait for you Kate Beckett," he admitted.

"The sex was that good?" I asked with a smile.

"Yes, it was. It was amazingly good," he said as he pulled me a little tighter in his arms. "But I didn't say that. I said I would wait for Kate Beckett, not the incredibly hot and steamy sex that I really should try to stop thinking about."

"Why should you stop thinking about it?" I asked him smiling. He didn't say anything; he just splayed his hand on my lower back and pressed me against him. His erection was obvious.

"I guess that is why," I smiled as I reached up and kissed him lightly.

"Why don't we just let things happen as they happen, Kate?"

"That sounds good to me," I relaxed into his arms and gave him another kiss.

"Do you want to go out to eat somewhere or stay in?"

"Let's order in and watch a movie. How about Chinese? What's the best place?"

Suddenly he got a shocked look on his face. "I need to call Alexis," he said as he let go of me and walked to the kitchen. He pulled open a drawer found a menu and handed it to me before he dialed Alexis. "This is her favorite place."

"I want the orange chicken and the spicy shrimp fried rice. Hey, pumpkin. Where are you? And more importantly, have you let Gram max out my credit card already?"

I smiled and tried not to listen in to his conversation but I knew that once he joked about his credit card, Alexis would know that he was safe. I ordered dinner and then went to the living room to give him some privacy. A little while later he stepped up behind me. He didn't wrap his arms around me as I expected, he just stood very close and in my personal space.

"So where are they?" I leaned back a bit, wanting to feel him there.

"They are in Dallas." He put his hands on my shoulders and began to rub my arms, every now and then his fingers would brush along the sides of my breasts. "More precisely, in Neiman Marcus. Spending all my money. I probably need to go work on the next Nikki Heat book just to pay for this trip of theirs."

"You think Martha is going to be that bad?" I said as I leaned my head to one side to give him better access to kiss there.

"I sent her and Alexis to catch the first flight out and I didn't give them any time to even pack a carry on, so yes, I am sure that Mother is going to make me pay. Especially since Jerry ended everything so very quickly by jaywalking."

Before I was able to say anything the doorbell rang. He went to pay for the food and then brought it back over to the couch where I had sat down. He sat next to me and started opening up the food.

We sat there and enjoyed each other's company for a while and talked about anything other than the precinct.

"So what do you want to do now, Kate? Did you want to watch a movie?"

"Do you need to do some writing?"

"Yes, but that can wait."

"No, that's okay. You watch me do my job, would you mind if I watch you do yours?"

"Of course you can," he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and we walked into his study. I kicked off my shoes, grabbed a book and curled up into the nice leather chair that I loved across from his desk. He leaned down and gave me a quick kiss.

"I think I know what part I might be writing today."

We fell quiet for a while, I was reading and watching him and he was busy writing what I assume was they sex scene from the interrogation room today. I am not sure if I wanted everyone to know about what happened between us today. Granted the hand margaritas weren't something that happened to us either but still. The day passed quietly, which was rather a surprise to me. I had never seen Rick Castle be that focused for that long. He would stop every now and then to look up at me, smile, and then continue writing. We did stop to get something to eat for dinner but then after I grabbed the next book in the series, we settled back in our chairs and soon the only sounds was the tapping of his keyboard.

"Kate!" he suddenly called out.

"What?"

"Come here, read this." I padded over to him and leaned over him, this time I was breaching his personal space. I read what he had written and it was indeed a steamy sex scene but I no longer worried about people thinking that we had done exactly that. It was interesting to see what happened from his point of view. At least until Rook got to the part where he pulled out a condom. I looked over to Rick in shock.

"I'm so sorry, Kate. I didn't even think about it. That's never happened to me before. I've always used a condom," he insisted.

"But you have a child." That wasn't what I meant to say.

"Condoms don't always work," he lowered his chin and raised his eyebrows in one of his signature Castle looks.

"I know. I..." I really didn't know what to say, I was trying to do some math.

"Kate, I am clean but if you want to get tested or anything..."

"No Rick. I trust you," I could resist running my palm gently down his cheek. He pulled me to his lap. "You really are a touchy feeling kind of guy aren't you?" I said with a smile. "I was just trying to do some math. Everything should be fine."

"But if your math is wrong?" he asked.

"Then we will just have to deal with things."

"You would want to have kids with me?" he asked sounding surprised.

"Okay we started dating a few hours ago and now we are talking about having children?" I smiled at him, "You do move fast."

"Kate, I…"

"Rick, it's fine. I'm sure that my math is okay. Don't worry."

"I'm just worried that you are going to kick my ass. And with good reason."

She smiled gently ran her fingers lightly down his cheek. "How about we go do something crazy?"

"Like jump out of a plane crazy or sex in a bed crazy?" he asked.

"I was thinking about the bed thing."

"Oh, thank God," he said as he suddenly swept me into his arms and carried me from the room.

"Rick put me down!" he silenced me with a kiss, a very steamy kiss.

Once we got to his bedroom, he gently set me down. "Kate, I know that you were thinking about the bed but it's long been a fantasy of mine to see you in my shower."

I looked at him for a moment then unable to resist the joke I asked, "Need help hanging the shower curtain?" I asked loving the look of total confusion on his face before I ran off the bathroom.

"Katherine Beckett, you minx," he said as he quickly followed me.

I didn't bother to respond, I just smiled and started to unbutton his shirt before pushing it down his arms. His hands unbuttoned my blouse and it was soon on the floor, I reached for his belt and soon he was stepping out of his dress pants wearing only his boxers.

We continued to strip each other then hopped in the shower. We used his body wash that I had long been intrigued by. "So the love bite wasn't enough now you are putting your scent on me?" I asked not upset.

"As long as you don't mind," he grinned.

"Not at all, I rather enjoy your scent. I can't wait for you to shower at my place. Then you'll smell like cherries," I said as I leaned down to give him a love bite on his neck. I noticed that something that I just said or did caused a definite reaction with a certain part of his anatomy.

"Taking a shower at your place is definitely on the agenda then. Having you mark me with your scent sounds like fun. And when you do that, I'll give you another love bite like you just gave me. Didn't think I noticed that did you?" I smiled at him, sweetly as he stalked me across the shower. Things were obviously heating up and I wanted to be able to make it to the bed this time so I let him think that he trapped me, not that that would be a bad idea, before I reached out and suddenly shut off the hot water. He bellowed, I laughed and slipped out before he could stop me.

I managed to grab a towel on my race through the bathroom and quickly wrapped it around myself, before he came out without a towel, totally at ease. I waited for him to get just close enough before I dropped the towel. He stopped in his tracks.

"You are ... sublime," he said reverently as he leaned me back onto the bed. He leaned over me and bracing himself on his elbows he kissed my forehead then he started to kiss his way gently down my face to my jaw then neck, then lower. Finally, he leaned over to one side and ran one hand over my skin, his lips never leaving my neck. I just knew he was thinking about marking me again but I didn't care. I normally don't like it when men try to treat me as a possession but it just seemed right for Rick to do that. And I intended on getting him back again too. My thoughts were interrupted when his fingers found one nipple and his lips the other. I sighed his name, his first name this time. His flexible fingers soon began traveling south across my belly then lower. I knew that he was able to tell how excited I was. My breathing hitched as he stroked some more.

"Please, Rick," I said softly. "I want you inside me."

"Oh, I plan on doing so many other things to you and with you, though."

"Later Rick, you have all weekend to thank me. Just make love to me now." He moved his hand, stopping before I climaxed. Then he did something that I thought was so erotic. He looked me in the eyes then held up his hand and licked his fingers. He rolled over on top of me and as he reached for something he whispered in my ear.

"You taste so good."

I parted my legs slightly for him so one thigh slipped between mine. My hips thrust against him of their own accord. I smiled slightly when he groaned.

He pulled out a condom and I raised one eyebrow at him. "Isn't that like closing the barn door after the horse is out?"

"If it happens it happens but you know what," he ran his fingers lightly across my belly. "When we have a child together, I would like it to be planned and know when it was that we made that child." I wonder if he knew that he said 'when we have a child' instead of 'if we have a child?'

I decided that it was my turn to be in charge now so I gently pushed him back a bit. "My turn." He rolled over, stacked his hands behind his head and gave me his smug look. I leaned down and let my breasts lightly tease across his chest. I nipped his ear then let my lips trail to his collarbone. My hands were busy learning his body as much as I could reach, except for one part. Finally, hoping to wipe the smug look off his face, my hand found his straining erection. It worked. I thought I would give him a taste of his own medicine as I ran my thumb over the tip of his cock. I spread the wetness around a bit then looking in his eyes, I licked my thumb. "Mmm, you taste good too."

I ripped into the condom package and made sure that that barn door was closed this time. I straddled his body then lifted myself up and guided him inside me. I didn't lower myself though, just holding the tip inside me. He tried to thrust his hips but I raised myself higher. Finally, his hands came out and gripped my waist.

"Oh God, Kate, please." I took pity on him and lowered myself completely, both of us moaning. We were both happy to be still for a moment until the need to move became too much. His hands stayed lightly on my hips and I soon learned that what he liked when he gripped me tighter. He seemed to really like when I squeezed my muscles around him. I reached down and held on to his forearms for balance.

He slipped his hands down my legs before one hand slipped between us. Soon we both were climaxing and calling out each other's names. I collapsed on top of him but when I was going to move, he held me in place.

"Don't leave," he said quietly.

"I'm not going anywhere," I promised him. "I do need to stretch out my legs though."

"How do you have the energy to do something like that?" I smiled then moved, stretching just a bit.

"You move like a cat," he said once he disposed of the condom.

"You know, Rick. I kinda like the crazy sex in a bed."

"Me, too, Kate. I especially like it when you called out my first name." His smug smile was back.

"Well, you called out Beckett at the precinct," I said as I tweaked one of his nipples.

"Woman, keep your hand still. You screamed out Castle before. I was sure that everyone knew what was going on."

"No, the guys are used to me yelling your name, not like that mind you but if they heard, they probably thought I was just pissed at you again."

"Kate, you can be pissed at me like that any time you want to."

"Oh, I certainly wasn't pissed at you this time." I fell quiet for a moment. I wanted to say something else but I didn't want him to take it the wrong way. "I never knew sex could be so fun."

"Why shouldn't it be fun?" he asked me with a kiss. "I always knew we would be great together, I just didn't realize how great."

I just nodded my head against him and tried to hide the yawn. He reached down to the foot of the bed and pulled some covers over us before he gathered me into his arms.

"Good night, sweet Kate."

"Good night, Rick," I said just before I fell asleep, smiling.

I thought I heard one more thing but I didn't know if it was a dream or not.

"I think I'm in love with you Kate Beckett and I really wouldn't be upset I you can't do math."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 Rick's family comes home earlier than he thought they would.

"Good morning, beautiful," I whispered to Kate as she slowly woke up.

"Good morning, handsome," she responded.

"What do you want to do today? Other than me of course." I said with a smile. She rolled her eyes.

"When are Alexis and Martha coming back?"

"Probably some time tomorrow. With lots of new clothes and my soon to be maxed out credit card."

"I'm going to need to run home and get some clothes. And I need to do some laundry and chores around my apartment," she said.

"I'll help." I really didn't want to leave her just yet. I knew that we would have to work some things out to make sure this would work between us but for right now, I just wanted to be with her.

"You don't need to help but you can bring your laptop and do some work if you want to," she suggested.

I had to smile at that. Most women wouldn't think about me doing my own work. "Why are you smiling?" she asked.

"Because you are very thoughtful. Want to take a shower together?" I asked hopefully, leering at her.

"We probably shouldn't," she said disappointed.

"Why not?" I pouted.

"Cause we'll just end up back in bed."

"And that's a bad thing because..." I grinned.

"Because I need to get some chores done before we can try out my bed."

"Okay, me first!" I gave her a quick kiss then went to take my shower, a cold one.

Once I was done, I walked back into my bedroom and saw her still cuddled under my blankets. So much for the cold shower. "Your turn. I'll see if I can find you something to wear. I put out an extra toothbrush for you. Here's a robe if you want it."

She slipped out of bed and pulled on the robe. I was a little disappointed to not see her walking around nude but I knew she looked better in that robe than I ever did. I pulled out a set of sweatpants and one of my favorite t-shirts then just in case I ran in to get some girly clothes from Alexis' room.

We went over to Kate's apartment. This was the first time I've been there after the boys and I helped her move in. Her place was neat and well cared for. It was definitely feminine without being girly. She pointed me to a nice comfy leather chair and showed me where I could plug in my laptop.

"This chair looks familiar," I said, commenting to the one obviously non-feminine object in the room.

"Yeah, when I stayed at your loft last year, I decided that I really liked your chair. So when I could, I got one just like it. Can I get you anything to drink?"

"No, I'm good." I just watched her as she went about her chores typing a little here and there. I wasn't actually working in the story itself just typing impressions of Kate and how I can use them for Nikki Heat. I was definitely was going to use the chair in the next story. Kate was in her bedroom when the dryer buzzed so I got up to help.

"Kate, want me to get the stuff out if the dryer?"

"Sure," she called out.

I grabbed the still warm clothes and tossed them in the basket before tossing the wet clothes into the dryer. I carried the laundry into her bedroom and saw her smiling at me.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"Nothing. I just never pictured you as the domestic type." She took the basket and started folding the towels.

"I am a single dad; someone had to do the house work. I sure hope you don't think Mother did it?" I said with a smile.

"I thought that you would have a maid come in and do all of that."

"I have a cleaning service come in for my big parties and such but Alexis and I can usually manage fine on our own. Especially once we got Mother trained to do some of it. So the dishes are done, you've vacuumed, the laundry is done and the bed is made. Anything else?" I asked hopefully once we finished making the bed.

"Just one more thing," I frowned. "Make the bed."

"But we just made it?" I asked a bit confused.

"And now we're going to mess it up," she smiled at me.

"I was thinking you would never ask," I said as we both kneeled on to the bed meeting in the middle before I pulled her into my arms. "Your bed, your choice. What do you want me to do to you? Or what do you want to do to me?" I couldn't resist the smug smile.

"So if it's your bed you get to chose?" she said amused.

"My choice is to make you happy," I said looking into her eyes. "However you want me to."

"Good answer. Now let's mess up these sheets," she suggested as she nibbled on my earlobe.

"God, Kate you make me crazy."

"You already are crazy," she insisted.

"Crazy about you. I've wanted you since you showed up at my book signing party and took me downtown for questioning."

"Castle," she said with warning.

"Seriously, I wanted Detective Beckett from the moment I saw her. Then I got the chance to know Kate Beckett and I fell all over again," I said as I lightly touched her cheek.

She smiled slightly then leaned toward me and our lips met in a passionate kiss.

After we decided that my bed was by far bigger and more comfortable, we headed back to my loft, stopping to get pizza on the way. We were back in the study eating and bickering about the merits of anchovies. I took a bigger bite than I intended and the cheese decided to slide off, burning my chin before falling on my shirt and pants.

"Oh, great. I'm going to go change, be right back," I said once I picked up the offending cheese and wiped my poor chin.

I ran back to the laundry room, treated the stains, and started a load of the laundry. I was just wearing my Tommy Nash silk boxers when all of a sudden I heard a key in the lock.

"Alexis!" I slipped behind the kitchen island and said hello to my daughter as if it were normal for me to be half undressed in the kitchen.

"Hey, Dad," she said as she wheeled her new suitcase in through the door. Her eyebrow shot up when she turned to look at me but she didn't say anything other than, "Gram had to go and see her agent but she'll be back in time for dinner."

"Did you have a good trip?" I asked leaning my chin in my hand and propping my elbow on the counter.

"Yes, we did. Here's your credit card. I managed to get it from Gram," she said with a smile as she walked over to me.

"Thanks, pumpkin, can you just put it over on the coffee table?" I asked embarrassed and not wanting her to come any closer.

"Oh Dad. Eww. Just because you are here alone doesn't mean you can run around without clothes." I couldn't help it, my eyes skipped from hers and of course, my brilliant daughter saw that and realized that I was hiding something.

"Is that a hickey?" My hand shot up to my neck to cover it.

"Oh double eww. I'm going to Kelly's," she said as she put the credit card back in her pocket and walked out.

"Alexis and Mother are back in town," I said to Kate as I walked back into the study.

"What? Are they here?" she didn't seem to able to control the blush that crept across her cheeks.

"Mother has a meeting with her agent and she'll be back for dinner tonight. Alexis said 'Ew dad. Where are your clothes?' picked up my credit card back up then left to go to her friend Kelly's house."

"Did you tell her I was here?" she asked not meeting my eyes.

"No, but she knew someone was here." I said as I sat on the arm of the chair beside her before continuing. "We probably should talk about where this is all heading."

"Where do you see it heading?" she asked still not meeting my eyes.

"I think you know where I can see this going," I said hoping that we were somewhere close to the same page at least.

"Castle," she said exasperated.

"Kate," I said emphasizing her given name. "I am not proposing right now or asking you to move in. I just want to officially date you before we get to those other steps first."

"So you aren't going to insist that I move in or something next week, Rick?"

"Next week, no." I smiled. "Maybe in a couple of months I will _ask _you to move in but I won't insist on it."

"I just don't know how public I want this to be right now."

"What do you mean?"

"If you were just some guy name Rick that wouldn't be a problem but you are Richard Castle."

"Why should that matter?" I asked thinking that I knew where she might be headed.

"Because a lot of times your private life becomes public knowledge and I don't really want to worry about that right now. I just want us to be Kate and Rick for a while first, not the best selling writer and his muse."

"How private do you want to keep it though? I need to tell Alexis. I don't give her all the details of my private life but I tell her about the really important things. And this is definitely one of those," I said as I reached out to caress her cheek.

"That's fine. I would just like to keep it off of page 6 for a while."

"Okay. I understand, I just have one question." She raised one eyebrow. "Can I tell Lanie?"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 Kate and Rick talk about important things and tell his family about them.

We sat in the chair for a while just making out and learning what we both like before I asked a question.

"So how do you want to tell Alexis and Martha?"

"Can't we just stay here until they come home? They are smart. They'll just look at us and realize something is up," he mumbled as he kept kissing on my neck.

"I would say so, me fully clothed and you just in your fancy silk boxers?" I smiled at the surprised look on his face.

"I guess I should go get dressed. I'll call Alexis and see when she and Mother are coming home. I didn't even realize I wasn't dressed yet, why didn't you tell me?"

"And miss the show? I don't think so," I smiled at him and earned the squinty Castle glare.

He left to get dressed and I sat there for a while trying to think of how would be the best way to tell his family that we were together; and hoping that they approved. I know that they liked me, but me working with Castle was different than dating him. I knew that Martha wouldn't mind but I was a little more worried about Alexis. She was a great kid who has had her dad all to herself for years now, how would she take to someone else coming into his life? She didn't seem to be thrilled when she had come home and found him in the kitchen.

"Hey, what's got you so deep in thought?" he said from the doorway, startling me.

"Alexis."

"They will be here for dinner by 6:30. But I think that isn't what you were just thinking about."

"She didn't seem terribly thrilled when she had come home, is she going to be okay with us?" I asked. He took two large steps to me, held out his hand and pulled me out of the chair. He then sat down and pulled me onto his lap.

"Alexis likes you, a lot. I normally don't have female guests here when she is here so she was surprised. Trust me, she approves of you."

A little while later we finally left the study to get dinner started. We decided to make lasagna and we had fun getting it ready. I was pulling it out of the oven when the door opened and Alexis peeked her head in.

"Kate, where's Dad?" she whispered surprised to see me.

"Laundry room," I whispered back.

"Good. Gram come on in," she said as she opened the door fully and pulled in several large suitcases. Martha followed her with several more suitcases.

"Oh, hello Kate."

"Hello, Martha," I said with a smile. "It looks like you had a good trip."

"Yes, it was nice, we were busy shopping. Hello, son." I turned slightly to see the look on his face as he came back into the room.

"Mother," he said shocked as he looked at the suitcases. "Five suitcases? And you bought new suitcases too? I knew that I shouldn't have given her my credit card," he mumbled to himself.

"Don't complain, kiddo. We needed to get a few essentials since we left so fast."

"A few? Mother…" he seemed at a loss for words. I loved seeing him flummoxed like that but I was suspicious that something was up.

"So, Alexis, let's see what you got," I suggested. She smiled and I knew that I was right.

"Sure! Dad, grab that one." She pointed to the suitcase that she had brought home earlier.

We took the suitcases over to the living room and Alexis put the one suitcase on the coffee table, opened it up and started to show off a couple of shirts.

"Richard, darling. Open up this big suitcase, we got a little surprise for you."

"I'm afraid," he said. He opened up the large suitcase to find… "Nothing."

Martha and Alexis started laughing and I wished again that I had a camera to catch the look of sheer confusion on his face.

"We were good Dad. We only got the little suitcase and what was in it. We just had to play a little joke on you though," she smiled her charming Castle smile.

"Where did you get the suitcases?" he asked pouting.

"These are my friend Kelly's and those are Gram's agent's."

"Oh, son, the look on your face. Priceless, right Kate?" Martha asked me.

"Yep. I wish I had a camera. The boys would love to see this." I got the infamous Castle squinty glare for that.

"How did you know, Beckett?" he asked walking over to me, making me think he was going to let it slip about us before we had planned.

"I'm a detective, I detected." I smiled at him smugly.

"Very good! And do I detect a hickey, Detective?" Martha asked with a smile, my hand shooting to my neck to cover it.

"Gee, does it match Dad's?" Alexis said innocently not looking at us, as his hand shot to his neck. We all fell silent, causing her to look up at us finally.

"Seriously?" Alexis asked. I looked over to Rick and we both dropped our hands from our necks and reached for each other.

"Well, it's about time, kiddo," Martha said. Alexis squealed and wrapped me in a sudden hug.

"See Kate, I told you that they wouldn't have a problem with it," he said with a smile.

"I think this calls for a celebration. Let's go out for dinner," declared Martha.

"Actually, we just took dinner out of the oven, Martha," I said.

"No matter," she insisted.

"Mother, Kate wants to keep this kind of quiet for a while. So we won't be going out on dates and such right now," he said as he put his arm around my shoulders.

"Dinner here it is then," Martha said.

"So, how did Dad finally make his move," Alexis asked with a grin as we were eating dinner.

"Um," I stammered as I glanced at Rick. We hadn't thought about what to tell Alexis.

"Or do we not want to know?" Alexis smiled.

"Speak for yourself, kiddo, I wanna hear this," Martha smiling at our discomfort.

"Okay, writer boy, you're up."


	6. Chapter 6

Authors note:

I thought that this story was going to be 5 parts, obviously, I was wrong. Rick and Kate keep doing different things than I mean for them to do so it keeps getting added to. I believe that I am on chapter 11 now. I hope all those who celebrate Christmas have a great holiday. Reviews are like Christmas pressies to me! Oh and this is dedicated to my friends who know that I am writting this but don't know my pen name. heehee

* * *

Chapter 6 Rick and Kate continue their dinner and movie night with Alexis and Martha.

"You trust me?" I asked as she smiled again at me. "Well, to tell you the truth, she just finally couldn't resist the Castle charm. Ouch! You kicked me."

"Who me?" Kate asked with mock innocence. I winked at her before I continued.

"Friday morning we went to work and focused on finding Tyson. I brought in my writer friends to help look at things with new eyes and we went through everything from the beginning. Esposito walked out to check on something then after a while he came back with Lanie and Dr. Murray. He showed me Tyson's death certificate but I didn't believe it. Lanie and Dr. Murray went through a stack of tests and such to prove that the guy that the cabbie had hit was Tyson."

"Why did they have stacks of stuff to prove it? Wouldn't finger prints be enough?" asked Alexis.

"I wouldn't have believed them, that would have been too easy. They convinced me that it was all over and then they left. Kate told me to go home but you two were gone and I didn't want to be alone."

"So you kissed her?" Mother asked.

"No, I picked a fight with her. I'm not proud of it but I did. We were yelling at each other when I was suddenly struck how very beautiful she was and I reached out and kissed her," I said as I reached out and took her hand. I figured that she didn't necessarily want to tell my mother and daughter too many details so I thought this little white lie would be acceptable.

"And you didn't break his arm?" Alexis asked her.

"No, he got lucky." Three eyebrows shot up while looking at her. Kate suddenly blushed and I had to try hard to not smile, but I lost. "I didn't mean that! I just meant that I've wanted to kiss him for a while, other wise I would have broken his arm."

I leaned over to whisper in her ear, "You're so cute when you blush." I knew that she was going to try to kick me again so I moved my feet out of her way. Unfortunately, they were now right in line of fire of my daughter. "Ow!"

"Be nice, Dad. Don't scare her away."

"Oh, I don't scare too easy, Alexis," Kate said with a smile.

We gathered up the dishes and took them over to the kitchen. With the four of us cleaning and putting away the food, it didn't take long to finish up. I was enjoying spending the evening with my three favorite ladies so I suggested dessert and a movie. We all made sundaes then went to sprawl over the couch and watch the movie. Mother sat on her usual chair and I sat on the couch between Alexis and Kate. When Kate moved to put her empty bowl on the coffee table I did the very obvious yawn, stretch, and drop my arm around her shoulders move. Alexis and Kate both rolled their eyes at me. I couldn't see Kate do it but I could tell.

"Come on, kiddo," Mother spoke to Alexis. "I think they would like some private time."

"You don't need to leave, Mother. I'll be good and try to keep my hands to myself," I said as I pulled my arm away. My three no longer favorite ladies had the gall to all snort at me. "What?"

"Dad, did you ever think that Kate isn't as touchy feely as you are?" I suddenly looked at her and realized that I had never thought about that. I had always been invading her personal space but being allowed to do it made me even worse than I normally was.

"I'm sorry, Kate. I never thought of it."

"That's okay, Rick. Growing up, Dad was the one I could always get hugs from but after Mom died, Dad kind of distanced himself. I know now that he was just afraid that he would lose me too but it took me a long time to realize that," she admitted. I put my arm back around her and pulled her closer.

"I hope you know that we all would be happy to give you any hugs that you need, you just have to ask," I said seriously. Mother and Alexis both nodded.

"I know," she said as she leaned in a bit closer.

"And if you need any space, you just need to ask for that too. I'll understand."

Kate realized that I was being serious and to my delight she reached up and gave me a quick kiss. We sat back to finish the movie and since I had seen it before, I let my mind wander. Kate had planned on spending the night here but since Alexis came home, I wasn't sure if she would still want to do that. I hoped that Kate would just stay until after Alexis went up to bed and we could skirt that issue.

As the credits to the movie were just beginning, Kate's phone rang.

"Hi, Lanie. What's up?" I glanced at her and shook my head reminding her that I wanted to tell Lanie.

"Sounds like you are having a good time. By the way, you were right. Oh, I'll tell you on Monday. I don't want to interrupt the rest of your weekend." She went to hang up the phone but I could still hear Lanie.

"Ima gonna smack you, girl!"

"It sounds as if Lanie has some company this weekend," Kate said quietly to me as she put her phone down.

"Anyone we know?" I asked with a smile.

"I have my suspicions."

"Oh, Kate, what was Dr. Parrish right about?" Alexis asked.

"Just something she said once about your father," she replied and I thought that I caught a faint hint of a blush.

"Oh, and what could our favorite ME have said about me?" I asked with great interest.

"I'll tell you later," she lightly elbowed me.

"Speaking of later," Alexis said. "I need to get to bed." She gave Kate a quick hug, and me a big bear hug. Good nights were passed around to everyone including Mother who also decided to call it a night. I am sure that she was just giving us some more time to ourselves. Alexis paused then turned halfway up the stairs.

"I'm going to be fixing breakfast in the morning, Kate. Which would you prefer, pancakes or waffles?"

"Waffles would be great," she said a bit surprised. I winked at Alexis before she turned and ran up the rest of the stairs.

"I told you that she approved. Shall we go to bed also?"

"Are you sure?" she asked as we stood and headed to the stairs.

"She knows that you will be here in the morning so I'm sure that she figured out that we've made love. She just went to bed to spare herself from any details."

"Details?"

"Do you want to hear about your dad's sex life?" I asked her. Seeing the shocked look on her face I can tell the answer to that. Kate amused me though when she quoted Alexis.

"Ew."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 Kate and Alexis talk then Kate tells Rick something.

I woke up at my usual time in the morning. Part of me just wanted to curl back into Rick's arms but then I heard Alexis walk downstairs. I eased out of bed, went into the bathroom then watched Rick for a moment. I still couldn't believe that we were together now and that things seemed to be really working out. I smiled at him sprawled across the bed before I walked downstairs.

"Good morning, Alexis."

"Good morning," she responded with a smile.

"Can I help with anything?"

"No, I'm good."

"So do you cook breakfast often?" I asked.

"Usually only when I want something, or so Dad claims," she said as she started cooking the waffles.

"Yes, I seem to recall something about a Vespa," I smiled at her. "Are you looking for anything now?"

"Honest?" I nodded to her. "I don't want him to screw this up. He really likes you and I think you feel the same."

"I do," I admitted.

"You are a good match for each other. You are usually very serious and Dad barely knows what that means. You bring balance to each others lives."

"That's true, he makes me laugh," I said truthfully. "Now can I ask you something else?"

"Of course, Kate," she agreed as she finished up the sausage links.

"You seem to not mind me dating your father but from what he said, you didn't seem so thrilled to find him yesterday in the kitchen."

"Well, it was obvious that I walked into something. I just think that certain things need to stay behind closed doors. Sometimes this family shares a bit more than necessary."

"That sounds like a story," I said as I poured some orange juice then buttered some toast.

"Does a teenager ever really need to see her grandmother doing the 'walk of shame'?"

"Oh, good point!"

"Yeah," she shook her head as if trying to get that memory out of her mind. "And since I obviously interrupted something yesterday, I wasn't too pleased. It probably wouldn't have bothered me nearly as much if I knew it was you."

"Actually, you didn't interrupt anything yesterday," I explained. "Other than a pizza. Your dad spilled his on his shirt and pants so he went to put them in the laundry. You came home as he was headed for the stairs."

"Really?" she asked. I nodded. "Then why did he act so guilty?"

"Doesn't he always?" I grinned.

"That's true. Here take this up to him and tell him I'm sorry for the misunderstanding." Alexis handed me a tray full of enough food to feed a bear. "Oh by the way, Gram and I are going to be out most of the day today, I just thought I would mention."

I smiled at her and took the tray up, set it on the nightstand, and then climbed back into bed. I kissed Rick and woke him up.

"Hey, beautiful. Feel free to wake me up like that anytime."

"Alexis made us waffles."

"I wonder if she is trying to get something again this time."

"Yes," I smiled. "She said she doesn't want you to screw this up."

"Now that is something that I will be happy to give her," he said as he reached up to kiss me.

We spent the rest of Sunday morning in bed after we were finished with the waffles. We talked about a lot of different things. Rick refused to tell me what he was going to tell Lanie but I could tell that he already had that planned. We hadn't decided yet on how to tell the guys though. Rick said that they would probably just hear Lanie yelling about it from down in the morgue.

"So what are your plans for Halloween, Kate?"

"Not much. I was going to be coming to your party if I can find a costume. And no, you cannot pick one for me."

"Can't blame a guy for trying," he said. "I have a book signing at a little hole in the wall bookstore, would you be interested in coming with me?"

"The hole in the wall wouldn't be something like a Borders or Barnes and Nobles would it?" I asked a bit suspiciously.

"No, it really is just a little bookstore, just outside the city. Paula thought it would be fun to do some little bookstores also instead of just the big ones. Oh, I'll need to call her about something else."

"Okay, I'll think about it. What else do you need to call her about?"

"She can help write up something about us. I know you don't want it to be a big deal right now and that's fine. I was just thinking that in case it hits the papers or something we can have a statement ready to run."

"That sounds like a good idea. You are very sweet to be thinking of me like this."

"Kate, you are very important to me and I don't want to do anything to scare you away."

"As I told Alexis, I don't scare too easily." I curled up next to him and lightly ran my hand across his chest. "This is really nice."

"I finally have the woman of my dreams in my bed, my arms, and my life and you call it just 'nice'?"

I lightly tickled him in the ribs before he grabbed my hand to stop me. "Not just that, even though that is pretty wonderful. Just that we can seem to do other things that just spend time in bed."

"Um, sweetheart. We are in bed." Once again he had to stop my hand from tickling him.

"I know that, Rick, I was talking about yesterday. Once we got out of bed, I thought it would be awkward and it wasn't. We did all the things that we needed to do, we just did them together but we still had some time to do our own things too. I like that."

"It was nice. I've always felt that I had to keep up the act with my dates."

"The act?"

"We've known each other for two years now and I like to think that you know the real me not just the writer. Most people just see the writer and that's all they expect or want to see."

"You've definitely seen me at my worst and you seem to like me anyway," I said with humor.

"That's an understatement," he said.

"Hey." I looked back at him with narrowed eyes.

"I meant about the how much I like you part," he said before he kissed me lightly on my lips.

I looked into his eyes and wondered if he was going to be making any declarations. He didn't say anything else even though I could tell he wanted to, so I laid my head back on his shoulder. Those three little words were always difficult for me to say to anyone and to hear. I really appreciated that Rick was giving me the space to say them first and to not push me. Usually the thought of those words were enough to scare me, even though I have told him several times that I don't scare too easy. This time, those words didn't scare me. Neither did the thought of what else might come after them, commitment. I had always thought that if I did ever sleep with Rick Castle, then it would be a brief fling since I didn't believe that he was capable of anything more. The past few days showed me that wasn't even close to the truth. I smiled to myself and let my hand wander further down his chest.

"Kate? Do you realize what you are doing?"

"Yes, very much so."

"Okay, I just thought that I would check," he said before he kissed me with the passion that only Rick could have.

We made love and it was different than the other times. That was one thing about Rick; he was always doing something different. The first time was wildly passionate and the next time it was steamy and erotic. This time it was sweet and gentle to begin with. I didn't fight him for control and he seemed to realize that and treat it as something special. He eased on top of me and holding himself up with his hands he paused and looked deep in my eyes.

"Are you okay, Kate?" he asked gently.

"Yes, I'm fine." We watched each other this time as we made love and I could tell that part of him was wondering what was different this time. After we climaxed together he lifted himself up slightly and looked in my eyes again. I could tell he wanted to say something but was unsure about it.

"Rick, you know I don't say things I don't mean, right?"

"Yeah," he nodded but looked a little confused.

"I love you, Rick," I said softly. He smiled gently.

"And I love you, Kate."


	8. Chapter 8

Authors Notes;  
Sorry that this is taking so long to update. And that this part is rather short. I originally intended this story to be about 5 chapters long and it seems to be topping out at 14 chapters. I just have the last two chapters to work on. I am working in depth on Chapter 13 and I have a strong outline for chapter 14 already. I have a tiny epilogue also but not sure if I should make it a seperate chapter or not, it's really short.

* * *

Chapter 8

Rick's thoughts on Kate's declaration.

Kate dozed off holding tightly to me. I have to admit I was holding her just as tight. I was afraid that this was just a dream and that I would wake up and none of this was real. I was shocked to hear Kate tell me she loved me. I was thrilled, just surprised. I didn't think that she would admit that for a while at least. I had wondered why this last time seemed different. I guess that she must have finally realized that when she was thinking earlier. I lightly caressed her cheek before I too fell asleep.

I woke up about an hour later and was happy to still find her in my arms. She was awake and smiling at me.

"Were you watching me?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Was I having a vivid dream or did you actually say something rather special?" I said rubbing my eyes.

"You probably were having a dream but, yes, I did tell you that I love you."

I couldn't help the smile that crossed my face. "I thought I heard that but I don't think I will ever get tired if hearing it. Or saying it. I love you, Kate."

"I like hearing that from you."

"I like saying it," I said.

"I need to get a shower," she said after a short time of silence. "Wanna join me?"

"Yes!"

We both got dressed after our shower and Kate went to pick up her phone when she noticed a message. She hit speed dial and was soon talking to her dad.

"Of course, I didn't forget," she said into the phone but she whispered 'oops' to me. "What time again? Okay. I'll meet you there, I wanted to tell you about something anyway."

"What's up?" I asked after she hung up the phone.

"Dad and I had made plans to get together today. I haven't seen him in a while."

"What time will you be home?"

"I don't know. It will depend on what Dad wants to do. We usually meet at the diner and then just play it by ear from there."

"Are you going to tell him about us?" She nodded at me. "Do you want me to come too?"

"I don't think so. Can we see about getting together for dinner sometime this week though?"

"Sounds great," I said.

I walked down stairs with her and gave her a kiss before she left. Once she left I was left to my thoughts and some laundry. I took everything upstairs, leaving Alexis's laundry on the foot of her bed. I hung my shirts and stood there and thought for a moment. I decided to weed through some of my older clothes and get rid of some. That way Kate could have some space if she wanted to hang up anything on the nights that she spent over here.

Once I was finished with the closet, I started in on the dresser. Then I realized that once Kate saw it she might think that I was trying to push her to move in and I had promised to not do that. Asking her to move in was pushing things but offering her a key wasn't too bad. She might need it if she was planning on coming over here but no one was home. I didn't think she would feel as pushed now anyway, not since she told me she loves me. I knew that she did but hearing her say it, and so soon, was wonderful. Maybe she wouldn't be too concerned if I did ask her to move in after all. I grabbed my jacket and keys. I had some shopping to do.

"Hi Dad, Kate. I'm home," Alexis announced loudly as she walked in later that afternoon.

"In here, pumpkin," I called from my office. I smiled when I realized that Alexis called out to both Kate and myself.

"Where's Kate? I wanted to show her something," she held up a bag.

"Her dad called and reminded her that they had plans for this afternoon."

"Kate went to see her dad alone?"

"Yes, they had plans to do something and she thought it would be better that I not being there when she told her dad."

"Are you okay with that, Dad?" Alexis asked as she sat on the edge of my desk.

"Sure, why wouldn't I be?"

"I would think you would want to meet him."

"I do, but I told her that I wouldn't push too fast or anything so I wasn't going to insist on meeting him today. Besides, I don't know if I want to be there when she tells her dad about us," I said.

"Why not?" she asked curiously.

"Trust me, when you ever come up to me, hopefully not for a long time yet, and tell me that you and some guy I've not met yet are in love and are very serious about each other, I don't think I want him there right then."

"So, you're in love with her," she said more as a statement than a question. "Have you told her that?"

"Yes," I nodded.

"You've been dating for like 2 days and you don't think telling her you love her is pushing too fast?"

"I'll have you know, Kate told me first." Alexis looked surprised. "I know, it surprised me too. I wanted to talk to you about Kate and I. I know you talked to her but I wanted to hear it from you myself."

"Daddy, you and Kate are great together. I have no problem with you dating her."

"And if it's not just dating?" I could tell that she was surprised that I was alluding to something more permanent.

"Gee, talk about keeping things slow," she shook her head at me.

"We actually have talked about more but only in the terms of eventually. I wanted to make sure you were really okay with it."

"I am, Dad. As I told Kate, you two balance each other well. Just one thing."

"What's that?" I asked concerned, Kate hadn't said anything about any issues that Alexis had with us.

"Things that are supposed to be behind closed doors, need to stay behind closed doors."

"Of course," I smiled at her. "Just give us a call if you plan on coming home earlier than expected though."

"Oh, Dad, Ew!"

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Please remember to review. I love having my mailbox for of them, it just makes my day, then makes me want to write even more!


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews you all. It really encourages me to write some more. I am thinking about two companion pieces to explain some other things that happened to the team over this weekend also. What do you think?

BTW, none of these characters are mine. :(

Chapter 9 Kate and Rick surprise their friends and get some of their own.

I went home to my apartment late that night after spending the day with my dad. I called Rick to let him know that I was home. We talked for over an hour. Rick had scheduled a meeting with Paula at 9 in the morning to talk about any statements that might need to be issued if our relationship gets out to the press. Dad and I had a good afternoon and evening. I told him about Rick and Dad said he was okay with it but I could tell that he was concerned about Rick's reputation. As we talked about yesterday, Rick had called and left a message on my phone explaining that he had a meeting with Paula, his agent this morning. I told the guys that he wouldn't be in and got right to work on the paperwork that I was a bit behind on. I also tried to figure out what was going on with my team. Esposito was avoiding looking at me and Ryan was just being out of it. I know that Rick was wanting to talk to Paula but I knew that if he were here this morning, there would be no way that he would not say something by accident.

"Beckett," I said into my phone after it rang.

"Hey, girlfriend. Sorry but I'm going to have to cancel on lunch," said Lanie.

"I needed to talk to you about something," I commented knowing that Rick was going to not like having to wait another day to let the guys know.

"How about you stop by here after lunch if you need to talk?"

"Okay," I agreed then hung up the phone. "Well, Lanie just canceled on me so there go my lunch plans. You guys wanna get something for lunch?"

"I have plans," said Esposito not quite meeting my eyes for some reason. I didn't think anything more of it when Ryan said that he would like to get burgers. I sent a quick text to Rick to let him know that lunch was canceled but we were going to meet Lanie after at the morgue. We had a good lunch then I sent Ryan upstairs when I went down to the morgue. I talked to Lanie for a few minutes when Rick finally arrived with a hot chocolate and bear claw for Lanie.

"Wow, you remembered, Castle," she smiled at him.

"I officially wanted to thank you, Lanie." She looked confused until he continued, "For all the extra work you did on Friday."

"I told Beckett that you could thank her instead," she said suggestively.

"Oh, I did," he said with his most sincere expression. "I even took your suggestion."

"What suggestion would that be, Castle?" I could tell her mind was racing.

"Oh, it was something about a wild passionate weekend in bed," he wiggled his eyebrows, smiled real big then said "See ya!"

Rick and I slipped out to the elevator before she could say anything. We saw her run out of the morgue just as the elevator doors closed.

"You have got to be kidding me," she yelled.

"I bet we will see her upstairs in just a minute or two," I said with a smile. Rick took my hand and gave it a squeeze. We had decided to be as discreet as possible but a quick show of affection in the elevator probably couldn't hurt. We took our seats at my desk as I waiting for the next ding of the elevator signaling the arrival of Lanie.

"Hey, Castle," the boys said to him.

"Hey, guys. How you feeling Ryan?"

"Fine. Where were you this morning?" asked Ryan.

"Oh, I had a meeting with my agent. Anything good happen this morning while I was gone?"

"Nope," said Ryan as the elevator dinged. "But it looks like something happened downstairs."

"Yeah, it looks like she is gonna smack you, Beckett, like she said the other day. Lanie, what are you doing up here?" asked Esposito.

"How did you know what Lanie said when she called this weekend?" asked Rick.

"How did you know?" Esposito asked.

"She said it rather loud, it was obvious. I guess you were right about the company, Beckett."

I nodded to him wondering if he almost slipped and called me Kate.

"So, Lanie. You were right about him," I pointed at Rick. "Were you right about Esposito being doable too?"

"She called me doable?" Rick lightly wrapped his right arm around my waist and placed his hand on my right hip as he leaned into my ear.

"Shut up, Richard." I didn't have to look at him to see that his smug smile was back in full force but I didn't move away from his hand. "So, Lanie?"

"Yes, Esposito is definitely doable," she admitted as she walked over to stand next to him.

"Well, it sounds like everyone had an interesting weekend," said Captain Montgomery as he walked into the bullpen. "Ryan, I have your paperwork finished."

"Thank you, sir."

"Tell them yet?"

"No, sir."

"You aren't quitting are you?" asked Rick suddenly. I knew he still blamed himself for Ryan getting hurt.

"No, I'm not quitting. I had to update my family status paperwork."

"Bro, you didn't?" asked Esposito surprised.

"I tried to call you, but you didn't answer, I guess you were busy." Esposito and Lanie looked at each other obviously thinking about what they had been busy doing. "Jenny and I want to have a party this weekend to officially announce," he paused then smiled real big. "We got married."

"All morning, bro and you didn't tell us?" asked Esposito.

"I was going to tell you all this morning but I wanted to wait for Castle to be here too. He's part of our little family. Now, obviously more that I thought."

AN: Looking back over this, I didn't realize it was going to be so short. Sorry about that. The good news though is part 13 is almost finished, I just need one more little missing scene to tie two others together. I love getting reviews so please click the button. Thanks!


	10. Chapter 10

Authors Note: The story was originally going to end where 'the boys' and Lanie find out about Rick and Kate but I got this idea in my head to continue it and I just couldn't resist. I have gotten the last two chapters from my beta and I will be polishing them up later today and will be posting them soon. I am also working on two other stories, one from Ryan's POV and the other from Esposito's. Hopefully, they will be finished soon. I do have a question on how I should post them. Should I post them chapter by chapter or all at once (Which will take longer to post)? Also, should I do both stories at the same time or one then the other? Let me know what you think in the review. Thanks!

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Chapter 10

One month into Rick and Kate's relationship, Rick's POV

I walked into the bullpen the day before Thanksgiving to see everyone else standing at the murder board. I came up behind them and handed Kate her usual morning coffee.

"Morning, Castle," she said with a smile. Even though she didn't usually call me Rick at work, she at least said Castle with far less irritation than she used to.

"What time did you get here?" I asked.

"About an hour ago. There is just something about this case that is bugging me. I made a couple of calls so hopefully we should hear something soon."

"Ah! What is with that tie, Esposito?" I exclaimed as he turned in my direction.

"Lanie gave it to me," he mumbled.

"What was that?" I asked loudly with a slight smirk.

"Lanie gave it to me, for our anniversary. She knew that we laughed at Ryan's tie so she thought she would get me back." He looked behind me and chuckled. I turned around and jumped when I spotted Ryan's new tie, obviously from his wife.

"You are both whipped," I laughed.

"Just wait, bro. Just you wait," said Esposito.

"Yeah, Beckett said something earlier about some sort of surprise for you," mentioned Ryan.

"Once again, I am thankful that I don't usually wear ties," I grinned. Until I saw the look on Kate's face. I swallowed. "You know, I'll love any tie you give me, or anything else."

"So, boss, you get him a tie?" Ryan asked.

"Maybe," she said. "He'll just have to wait until tonight."

"Why? You know I hate waiting. Tell me what it is," I tried to charm her.

"Oh, trust me, Castle. I think you would prefer to open this gift in private."

"Sounds scary, bro," chipped in Esposito.

"Nah, I don't think it's scary, at least. You might, but I don't," Kate said, suddenly sounding serious. I looked at her closely trying to read her but unable to.

"For that, I won't tell you anything about the gift I have for you," I said jokingly.

Kate smiled at me as her phone rang. "Beckett. Great, we'll be there in a few." She hung up the phone. "That's the break we were looking for. Let's roll."

We all grabbed our things and headed out. I managed to steal a quick kiss from Kate in the elevator and whispered a proper good morning to her. Kate was not a publicly affectionate person so we usually kept our hands to ourselves. I had more trouble following that unspoken rule than she did, of course, especially on mornings when she had spent the night at her apartment instead of my loft.

Our team got to the fourth floor walk-up and waited until the backup was at the back of the building before we went up. I gave Kate my 'please be careful' look and she knocked on the door and announced herself. It all went to hell from there. The suspect in the double murder didn't even bother to open the door; he just blasted it with a shotgun. Kate ducked to the other side of the now Swiss cheese door. She looked to be fine much to my relief. We just sat there for a moment when some more cops came in and pushed me back so I couldn't see.

Finally, the all clear was yelled out and I went to find Kate. My knees went weak when I saw the blood on her arm. It wasn't much but she still shouldn't be bleeding. She saw me coming toward her and stopped me from saying anything.

"Yes, it's my blood. I got a splinter from the door. I'll be fine." She placed her hand on my arm. "I promise."

I swallowed, nodded then let her finish her job. Once the now deceased suspect was taken away, I insisted that Kate go to the hospital. She balked at the idea until she went to take off her vest and noticed that it too, was full of splinters. She seemed more upset about that than the splinter that actually drew blood. I drove her car and since she let me, I knew that she was more upset than she let on. Once we were at the ER and the doctor came in, I went back to the waiting room to let Alexis know. I sent her an email explaining that Kate was fine but we were at the ER. About twenty minutes later, my phone rang.

"Hi, pumpkin."

"Is Kate okay?" she asked.

"She will be fine. She is back with the doctor right now. The suspect shot the door she was behind with a shotgun and she got splinters all over her. Most of them on her vest but a couple of them actually drew blood. I'm overprotective so I insisted she come here just to be safe."

"You're sweet, Dad. Do you mind if I spend the night over at Kelly's house? I'll be back first thing in the morning in time to got to the Beckett's for tomorrow."

"That's fine. Will we see you when we get home?"

"Yes. I want to see Kate before I go. And you too Dad," she said as an afterthought.

"Thanks," I said dryly.

"I need to get back to class. Tell Kate I said hi. Love you Daddy."

"I love you, too," I said.

**x**

"So, you gonna live?" I joked as Kate came out after a few games of my newest phone app.

"Yes, nothing was serious but he went ahead and gave me a tetanus shot just to be safe. Do you mind driving me back to the precinct?"

"Are you sure? It's the day before Thanksgiving, don't you just want to go home?"

"No, the doctor just said to not stand in front of any doors that are about to get shot but I'm good to go. Besides, I have a stack of paper work to deal with. I want to get it done before tomorrow."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am perfectly fine to go work my desk. The doctor told me to not bump my arms, one is bandaged and I got the shot in the other one. Other than that, I am in perfect health," she smiled.

"Okay, to the precinct it is. Oh, I spoke with Alexis earlier and she wants to see you before she leaves for her friend's house for the night."

"What did you tell her?"

"The truth," I said and once I saw her eyebrow rise, I continued. "I said the guy shot the door, you caught some splinters and me being the overprotective guy I am, I insisted you go to the ER."

We made it back to the 12th and Kate went right to work. I pretended to play on my phone but I kept watching her. This was the first time that she got hurt since we got together and I have to say, I didn't much care for how it felt watching her get hurt and not being able to protect her. I knew that she could protect herself but part of me still felt like it was my job. Before I knew it, Kate started packing up her things.

We walked out together, and then she said that she would meet me over at the loft after she swung by her place to get her bag and my gift. And I had forgotten all about that tie. I headed home, and picked up dinner along the way.

"Dad, where's Kate?" Alexis asked as I walked into the loft with dinner.

"She had to stop by at her place, she'll be over in a few," I told her as I handed her some of the bags I carried.

"So she's really okay?" she asked as I set the rest of the food down and went to get plates.

"Yes, pumpkin, she's fine. She got a few little splinters on her arm and one big one that drew blood. I pretty much panicked and made her go to the ER. Are you eating with us?"

"No, Kelly's mom is cooking her famous Indian dishes tonight." Alexis turned to the door as it opened to reveal Kate.

"Kate, are you okay?" Kate nodded. "Can I give you a hug or will that hurt you?" Alexis asked. Kate reached out and gave my daughter a hug, making sure to not let Alexis touch her arms.

"I'm fine, really. Your dad is just overprotective," Kate said as she pulled back.

"Yes, he is. But he is so good at it," Alexis smiled. "I just wanted to check on you before I take off to my friend's house. I'll be back tomorrow morning before its time to go to your dad's for Thanksgiving dinner." She picked up her bag that was by the door.

"Have a good night, pumpkin," I called out from the kitchen.

"I will, love you guys," Alexis said before she slipped out the door. I walked up behind Kate and slipped my arms around her and dropped some kisses on her neck. I wondered if Kate noticed that she was included in Alexis's farewell.

"Your daughter is so sweet," she said softly. I kissed her once more and knew that any doubts that I had about Kate and Alexis getting along were long gone.

"Dinner's ready, if you're hungry," I commented.

We enjoyed a nice dinner and talked about all of us going to her Dad's the next day for dinner. I met Jim Beckett a couple of times now but I was a little nervous about how him meeting the rest of my family would go. Dinner was soon finished and when I returned to the table there was a box at my place, the dreaded tie box.

"So, how scary is this?" I asked jokingly.

"I don't think it's scary," she said seriously and with meaning again. "I think you will like it. I hope so at least." She suddenly sounded unsure, nervous even.

"It's from you, I'm sure I will love it," I said truthfully as I pulled off the lid of the tie box.

"It seems I'm not quite as good at math as I thought," she said a little nervously. I looked into the box and saw a little stick instead of a scary tie. A little stick with two pink lines on it.

"Do two lines mean what I think it means?" I asked in as neutral of a voice as I could manage as she nodded. "You're pregnant." I said more as a statement than a question. She nodded again. "You said you don't think the gift is scary. Are you okay with this, Kate?" I asked a bit nervously still trying to hide my smile.

"Yes," she nodded, this time with a smile. "I'm okay with this."

"Good," I said relieved as I wrapped her in my arms and smiled. I was surprised that she was okay and not freaked out by the baby. Especially since we weren't married and had just started dating a month ago. No wonder she looked so serious when I was joking with the guys at the precinct about the scary gift.

"I love you, Kate Beckett," I said with one hand on her belly before I dropped to my knees and lightly kissed the child growing there. "I love you too, little one."

_Remember to read and review._


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 Kate and Rick have some more things to discuss. Kate's POV

I ran my fingers through Rick's hair as he talked to our unborn child. I should have known that I had no reason to be nervous. Rick was a great dad and even though this happened a lot quicker than I intended, I was truly okay with it. I also knew that he was also, I could tell just by his voice that he was already in love with the little one, just as much as I was.

"I love you, Rick Castle," I said softly as he turned to look up at me.

He surprised me as he stood up and swept me into his arms. Rick kissed me stopping any protest as he then carried me up to his bedroom. He placed me gently on edge of the bed then dropped to his knees to unbutton my shirt easier. Rick slipped it off my shoulders, making sure not to touch my arms. He ran his hands around my back and pulled me close into a kiss. I finally broke the kiss so that I could reach down and unbutton his shirt while he nibbled and kissed across my jaw, down my neck, then across my collarbone. His hands unsnapped my bra which I sent flying before they came back around to work on my snap and zipper of my jeans. Once, I was nude, Rick gently eased me back onto the bed, and quickly stripped his clothes before he stretched out beside me, holding himself up on one arm he looked at me for a moment before he spoke.

"You are so beautiful." He then leaned over and began to lightly kiss me. He started at my shoulders and kissed his way all the way down my left side before starting at my foot and working his way back up. I was pleased that he didn't focus only on my belly. I was happy to be pregnant and I knew that he was over the moon happy about it but we were still Kate and Rick before we were Mommy and Daddy, especially here in bed.

"Rick, I need you."

"You first," he mumbled into my ear as his fingers found the one spot that he had missed while kissing me. "I want to watch you as you come apart in my arms."

Soon, under his talented fingers and his watchful stare, I called out his name in delight. I was still feeling blissful when I noticed that he had reached over to the nightstand for a condom when I stopped him.

"We really don't need to use those anymore, Rick," I said with a smile.

"That is true, my dear." He tossed it back into the drawer with a smile. He rolled back to me, and slipping his legs between mine, he kissed me. My arms wrapped around his shoulders then slowly eased down his back. I thrust my hips up at him to let him know that I was tired of waiting.

"Still impatient, I see," he chuckled. I just thrust my hips again, finally taking him inside me. We both groaned. Other than the first unexpected time in the interrogation room, this was the first time we didn't use a condom and it felt so much better. Soon, I was lost in blissful surrender again but not before I noticed him joining me.

"So, what do you want to name the baby?" he asked as he traced his hand over my belly when we finally caught our breath.

"Goodness, Rick. Let me go to my OB first before you have the baby born and grown up," I said as I relaxed in his arms, my back to his chest.

"So, you aren't sure," he asked. "I know that false positives are possible."

"No, I'm sure," I commented as I put my hands over his and I could feel him relax beneath me. "I have an appointment with my OB on Monday but the doctor at the ER confirmed it today."

"So that is why it was so easy to get you to the ER today," he said giving me a light tickle.

"That's true. I figured that I would just get Lanie to bandage up my arm but once I saw all the splinters and such in my vest over my belly, I got scared." He squeezed me tighter and kissed me on the top of the head. "I'm going to talk to the captain on Monday after my appointment and see about taking desk duty."

"What are you going to tell him about why you want to do that?"

"I don't know yet. I should tell him but I kind of want to keep this to ourselves for a little while."

"You know, people will find out eventually," he said with a smile.

"I know, but just for a little while. I just found out myself for sure this morning."

"When did you suspect?"

"Yesterday afternoon. I was talking to Lanie and she mentioned getting Esposito a crazy tie for their one-month anniversary. I realized that I, uh, was two weeks late," I said a bit embarrassed.

"You don't have to be embarrassed talking about girl things to me. I raised a daughter and live with my mother."

"I'm just not used to talking to guys about that."

"You can talk to me about anything, Kate."

"I know," I replied honestly. We fell silent for a few minutes before he reached back over to his nightstand for something.

"Speaking of talking, I know that I said that I would give you a couple of months before I asked but I think now will be a good time, Kate."

"Are you asking me to move in with you?" I asked with a smile.

"Not exactly," he said causing me to spin in his arms to look at him. I looked into his blue eyes and saw just how much he loves me. "I was wanting to do something befitting the name of Castle but Mother once said women didn't like that so um, and well this might not be the best timing but, um, I love you, Kate Beckett."

"I love you, too, Rick," I said amused at his problems with speech all of a sudden.

"Kate, you're making me a daddy. Would you be willing to make me a husband also?" he was holding a ring.

"Oh Rick." I looked at him stunned.

"You just told me you are pregnant and I don't want to you think I am only asking because of that and-"

"Shut up, Rick. I think your timing is fine. Of course, I'll marry you." I leaned around further and kissed him as he slipped the ring on my finger.

"So you are proposing but not asking me to move in," I said jokingly.

"Well, I was hoping that kind of will happen when we get married," he said. "But yes, you can move in anytime."

I elbowed him lightly under the pretense of looking at the horseshoe shaped ring more closely.

"It's a beautiful ring."

"I had it specially made for you. It's to go with your mom's ring. If you want it, that is. You don't have to, I can buy you something else."

"No, Rick. This is perfect. I love it."


	12. Chapter 12

Author's Notes: I first of all would like to apologize for taking so long to post between parts. I will try to get the next two parts up in the next couple of days. I made the mistake of focusing so much on the next story that I neglected to post this one. I won't do that any more. Second, I would like to thank all the reviewers. I love getting reviews.

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Chapter 12 Thanksgiving Dinner, Rick's POV

I woke up before Kate for a change. I watched her for a short moment before I kissed her awake.

"Good morning, soon to be Mrs. Castle."

"Good morning, already are Mr. Castle," she said causing us both to laugh.

"So do we want to see about setting a date?"

"No." She smiled at my expression. "I didn't mean that Rick. I just meant, lets set a date a little bit later. We are going to my dad's in a few hours, and I would rather not answer that question right yet."

"Are you going to tell him about the baby?" I asked gently.

"I don't know. Well, obviously, I will tell him but I don't know if I will today."

"I understand if you want to wait but when ever, it would be best to not do it here." I saw her look of confusion. "You should tell him on his home turf or at least some place neutral, not at my place. I don't know your dad too well yet but I know I would prefer to be in a comfortable setting if Alexis came up to me to say she was unmarried and pregnant."

"That's a good idea. I just don't know if I am ready yet to let my dad know."

"He deserves to know."

"I know. I'll think about it, okay?"

"Okay. We should get up. Alexis should be home soon."

Alexis sent me a text to let us know that she was on the way home. Kate and I welcomed her home but neither said anything about the news. I wanted to tell her but I knew that Kate would want to wait. I knew that this was a lot of changes for Kate and I really didn't want to push her too much.

We arrived at Jim Beckett's house just after noon. I had already met him a couple of weeks ago but this was the first time he was meeting Alexis and Mother. They had him charmed in minutes. I was pretty sure that they would, of course. The Beckett's seemed to like the Castle charm. Alexis soon had Jim sitting on the couch showing pictures of Kate as a youngster. I had been standing with Kate watching them all interact until I realized what they were looking at.

"Sorry, Kate," I whispered to her and gave her a kiss before I walked over to the couch. "I gotta see these."

We spent the next several hours talking and getting to know one another better. We all helped in the kitchen to finish up dinner and get everything on the table. The meal was the traditional Thanksgiving meal, a big turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, the whole nine yards.

"Dad, dinner looks great," Kate said as the rest of us nodded in agreement.

"Thanks. I enjoyed cooking a big meal again. It's been a long time."

We went around the table and told what we all were thankful for. It was pretty typical until I spoke. I couldn't resist the opportunity.

"I am thankful for the three most important women in my life. My mother, my daughter, and my," I paused. "Kate." I ignored the eyebrows that shot up around the table, knowing that they thought I was going to say 'wife.'

"I am thankful for my family, both old and new," she too paused as if gathering her nerve. "And the new ones that are on their way."

"On their way?" asked Jim suspiciously. Kate nodded.

There was suddenly a flurry of excited chattering around the table silenced only when Jim Beckett raised his voice to be heard.

"I just have one question," he said loudly before turning to me. "Are you going to do the right thing?" he asked me.

"Dad!" exclaimed Kate.

"Good question, Richard," said my mother as my daughter nodded.

"I already asked her, Jim, and she said yes."

"Are you sure this is what you want, Katie?"

"Yes, Dad it is. This just is happening a little faster than I originally intended but yes."

Alexis reached over to hug Kate.

"Welcome to the family, Kate," said Mother.

After we finished dinner, we decided to wait on dessert. Kate helped her dad take some of the dishes into the kitchen. I was going to help but she stopped me with a look, she wanted to talk to her father in private. Soon Kate came out to gather more dishes, then handed the stack to her father.

"You know where it is, Katie. Why don't you take Alexis up with you? I would like to talk to Rick for a minute."

"Yes, me too," said my mother.

"Be nice, Dad," Kate warned.

"Yes, Gram," Alexis agreed.

"We will," he said but it didn't convince me. Kate walked by and gave me a peck on the cheek.

"He doesn't have a gun, does he?" I whispered.

"No, but I might stay away from the knife block in the kitchen," she said jokingly, or so I hoped at least. I watched as they walked upstairs then turned to see our parents staring at me.

"Let me start by saying I love your daughter. I plan on doing anything I can to make her happy."

"I know you say that but what about your history?" Jim asked.

"I can't change the past but I can tell you that I do honor my vows."

"Says the man with two ex-wives."

"My previous wives didn't honor their vows, they cheated on me. I can deal with a lot but I will not put up with that. I know I don't have to worry about that with Kate."

"Isn't this rather fast Richard?" Mother asked.

"Yes, it is but we have spent the last two years so close it doesn't really seem as fast to me. Yes, the baby and proposal are a bit sudden but once again, I love her."

"So did you propose before or after she told you about the baby?" Jim asked.

"After," I admitted. "But I had already ordered the ring two weeks ago."

"Two weeks ago, when you just started dating last month?" he sounded as if he disapproved.

"I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her a while ago. I just didn't know if she could trust me. I'm lucky, she does."

"Kate is a very private person. Have you discussed how you are going to deal with your career?" Mother helped me out by avoiding more talk of my past.

"I know Kate doesn't like the publicity too much so I will happily spare her from as much as I can."

"Are you going to be able to always do that though?" Jim asked.

"She did come with me to a signing last month, just a small one and she has previously been to some of my bigger parties. I want her to be comfortable enough to come to any of them by she wants to but I understand if she doesn't want to go to the big ones. She will need to come to some of the parties but as my wife not as Nikki Heat. I will not hide her or the child away but I will do what I can to protect them from the more unsavory side of my job.

"Such as your reputation as a playboy?" Jim asked. "Kate has talked about you for years."

"I only meet her two years ago."

"Yes, but she meet you before at a book signing."

"Really?"

"She mentioned how you didn't even seem to see her because you were busy ogling and signing breasts. She just wanted her book signed."

"I have to admit that I do have a less than stellar reputation but honestly not all of it is true. I was in college when my first books took off; of course I was going to enjoy the party scene. I met Meredith and Alexis came." I avoided telling him that the only reason we got married was because Alexis was on the way. The parallels were not something I wanted him to consider. I could tell by the look in Mother's eyes that she knew exactly what I was thinking and that she would not say anything.

"My publishers didn't think it would be good for my sales or image to suddenly go from college party guy to stay at home dad who would rather have tea parties with his little girl than wild and crazy parties. And then after my wife left me, they decided that it just wouldn't do to be seen moping about and not wanting to even leave my apartment.

"Sir, to tell you he truth, I am shocked each and every day that I am lucky enough to have Kate in my life. I will not ever hurt her intentionally. She told me once that she believes that she is a one and done kind of girl. I know that I have been married twice before but I still think, I know, that I am done now. I never felt for them as I feel for your daughter."

"Do you still love them?"

"In a way. Gina is still my publisher and I have to deal with her often. Meredith is the mother of my child; we will always have that connection. But I do not love them in any romantic way anymore."

He just looked at me for a while before speaking again. His expression unreadable.

"Welcome to the family then, son." And he held out his hand. I shook it in relief then spoke.

"Mother?"

"I know that you love Kate and you don't want to hurt her. You are both passionate people and you will fight. You just need to make sure that you can forgive each other and compromise. I just don't want either of you to get hurt," she paused. "But I don't think that will happen though. You've obviously thought about this all."

"Thanks, Mom." I gave her a quick hug.

"So everyone in one piece down here?" Alexis called from the stairs followed by Kate.

I pulled Alexis into one arm for a squeeze and Kate into the other.

"Yep, we are all good," I said with a smile.

"You should come and join me at one of my poker games. You have a great poker face," I said to my future father in law.

"So, Katie. Do you think it will fit?"

"It does. Are you sure Dad?"

"Your mom wanted you to have it. She saved it for you."

I looked at her confused and obviously missing something in the conversation.

"Mom's wedding dress, she informed me. Dad kept it for me. I smiled at her as I leaned down and gave her a quick kiss.

"Can I see it?"

"No!" cried out all three women.

"I know you don't always follow traditions, Richard but the groom does not see the wedding dress before the wedding or the bride on the wedding day until she walks down the aisle," Mother said.

"Are you going to insist on that?" I asked Kate.

"Well, it's a tradition that's important to Martha, so sure," Kate said with a smile.

"Thanks, Mother."

So "So Katie, when are you going to get married?"

"We haven't actually set a date yet. We were going to talk about it this weekend."

"What kind of wedding do you want?" he asked. I wanted to try to find a way to assure him that I would be taking care of the expenses but I didn't want to offend him.

"Honestly I was thinking of something small and private for the wedding. Maybe we can do a big reception for your book people sometime after," Kate said.

"That sounds good. Gina is going to insist on something big but I really don't want the wedding to be a spectacle. If it's small and private maybe we can even slip it past the press and can announce it later."

"I like that idea," Kate said.

**x**

We were all back in the car driving home when Kate asked if we could stop over at her place. She wanted to go ahead and pack up a few things and take them back to my loft. As she was gathering some clothes Mother was looking around.

"This is a nice apartment, Kate."

"Yeah, I know the owner and he gave me a discount because he thought it would be good to have a cop in the building. I wouldn't have been able to get a 2 bedroom otherwise."

"It's two bedrooms?" Alexis asked.

"They are both rather small but it's enough."

"Are you going to be able to get out of your lease?"

"I don't know, Alexis. I looked over the lease the other day and I didn't realize that it was as strict as it is. I might be out a lot if I try to break it." Alexis pulled Mother over to the other side of the room. I was glad because I wanted to talk to Kate privately.

"I'll cover anything since I am asking you to move into my place," I said.

"No, that's okay. I'll work out something," Kate insisted.

"Eventually, you are going to have to learn to accept gifts from me."

"I know but I signed the lease, I'll take care of it. I can find a sublet I'm sure."

"I'll take it," Mother said.

"What?" Kate and I said at the same time.

"I'll take it. With a baby on the way, you are going to need more room at the loft, I'll move in here and you can use my room as a nursery."

"And the second bedroom here can be for me, when you want some alone time," Alexis said.

"I don't want to kick you out of your home Martha," Kate said.

"Oh you aren't. I need to get out on my own again anyway, this is the perfect timing. No reason for Richard to pay for my new place and to break your lease when he can just do one instead."

"Oh, so you'll move out but I'll still pay," I said with a smile.

"Of course, kiddo," she returned the smile.

I just shook my head, what could I do?

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AN: Leave it to Martha to throw a wrench into Castle's plans.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Okay, here is the second to last part. I have had so much fun with this story. Thank you to everyone who reviewed it.

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Chapter 13 The Day after Thanksgiving, Kate's POV

I woke up way too early to the sounds of movement in the apartment. I realized that Martha and Alexis were headed out to the big sales that they were talking about. I had thought about joining them but I decided it was nicer just to stay in bed. I did decide to meet up with them later and get some coffee with them when they were taking a break from the shopping. I curled back into Rick's arms and fell back asleep.

I finally woke up again alone in the bed. I didn't hear the shower and the bed was cold, Rick must have been up for a while. I rolled over and went to grab my phone to see what time it was when I saw a long stem red rose on the bedside table. I picked it up and sniffed it. I was just putting it down when the door opened and Rick came in with a tray of food.

"Good morning, Kate."

"Good morning, Rick. You made me breakfast, how sweet."

"Slight correction, I made 'us' breakfast so scoot over," he said with a smile. He sat down next to me and soon we were halfway through the ham and cheese omelet he made.

"So, Kate, what are your plans for the day?"

"Not much. I was going to go shopping but I was more comfortable sleeping. I do want to go out later and meet up with Alexis and Martha though. What are your plans?"

"Decorating, of course."

"Decorating?"

"Yesterday was the start of the Christmas season, so now it's time to decorate. It's a Castle family tradition."

"Maybe I'll go out earlier than I thought," I said rolling my eyes at him.

"Oh really, I bet I can convince you to stay," he said his eyes dropping to my lips and his hand reaching to pull me closer to him.

"But that isn't decorating," I whispered with my lips against his ear as he nibbled my neck.

"That's okay, I can wait to decorate later."

I finally got out of bed and took a shower. Rick was still lounging in bed and it was tempting to climb back with him but I knew I needed to get out to do the shopping I had planned.

"Martha," I walked up to her in the line at the coffee shop. "I'll grab a table, can you grab a coffee for me too?"

"Of course, I can, dear."

I found a table after a few minutes in the crowded shop. I had forgotten how crazy it was the day after Thanksgiving. Martha soon arrived with the coffees and pastries.

"Here you go Kate."

"Thanks, Martha. I'll treat next time."

"No worries. Should you be drinking coffee now?"

"I don't know," I said as my hand paused with my coffee halfway to my mouth. "I hadn't thought of that. I have an appointment on Monday so I'll check with my doctor then."

"And until then, enjoy!" she said with a smile. "How are you feeling? Any symptoms?"

"No, and that surprises me," I said glad that I had a woman to talk to about this. "You always hear about women being sick all the time but so far, nothing. If the tests weren't positive, I don't think I would believe it."

"Well, for some women it just takes a little longer to show up. But then again I never had morning sickness."

"Never?"

"Well, there were a couple of times that I was feeling a little blah but I ate some crackers or drank a ginger ale and felt fine after that."

"That would be good."

"So, have you decided on if you are going to tell them down at the precinct?"

"Eventually, I'm just not sure when. I went to the bookstore earlier and got a book. It says that you shouldn't say anything until the end of the first trimester in case of a miscarriage."

"That is a good point but they are like your family and if something terrible happens, don't you want to be able to turn to your family for support?"

"Yeah. Rick is letting me decide when to tell people but I know he wants to shout it from the rooftops."

"If you weren't so private, he would have already," Martha said with a smile. "You know, dear, it has been a frighteningly long time but if you ever want to talk about anything pregnancy related, you can ask me. I'll try to remember."

"Thank you, Martha. That means a lot to me."

"I enjoyed meeting your dad last night. He seems like a really nice guy. Very protective too."

"I was wondering what he said last night. Rick wouldn't tell me."

"You dad was worried about my son's reputation and Richard assured him that he loves you and only you. He was surprised to hear about your previous signed book though."

"Oh, I guess I never mentioned that to him."

"Your dad said that he barely noticed you since you just wanted a book signed not any other parts."

"Oh, that is true," I laughed at the memory. "What did you have to say?"

"I just was worried about how much publicity he wanted you to deal with. I know you are private and I don't want him to push you into more than you are ready for."

"That is one thing that I am not really looking forward to but if we take it a little at a time, I think it will be okay. I don't mind the small parties, signings and such but the big ones with all the reporters, aren't my favorite. Especially when they all just call me Nikki Heat."

"Well, dear, you just let Richard know and I'm sure he will make a statement or something that you are Kate Beckett not Nikki Heat. Sometimes just a blunt statement like that will actually work pretty well."

"I'll make sure to tell him if it gets too crazy," I promised.

"So what are your plans for the rest of the day?"

"Not much. I'll probably go back to the loft and read."

"Oh dear, you don't want to do that today," she said. "Richard is decorating and you do not want to be there while he is going crazy."

"More than normal?" I asked with a smile.

"Much."

"I think I will call Lanie and she what she's doing then. Maybe we can all meet up somewhere when we join Alexis."

"And then we can all have dinner at the loft," Martha suggested as I pulled out my phone.

A short time later, Martha, Alexis and I meet up with Lanie and Jenny and the boys. I told the boys to go ahead and go to the loft if they were done shopping. They happily took all the bags and left commenting on Madden and Rock Band. As soon as they were out of earshot, Alexis leaned over to me.

"You didn't mention what Dad was up to, did you?"

"Oops. Must have slipped my mind."

We all laughed and I knew that I would need to get a little something extra for my detectives for putting up with Castle decorating today. We had fun shopping before we stopped for a break. I suggested to Alexis and Martha that they run into one store while Lanie, Jenny and I went next door and got some lingerie. I didn't really need my future stepdaughter see what I was buying for her dad.

Finally, it was time to go back to the loft, we were all tired but I had almost finished my Christmas shopping so I was happy about that at least. Alexis assured me that her father probably didn't think of fixing anything for dinner so we stopped in at one of our favorite Italian places that delivered. We picked up more than dinner there and soon we were all back at the loft and dropped our packages in the transformed living room.

"Hey, guys. Look what we picked up," I called out to the guys who were playing video games.

"Hi Kate. You're home," Rick said with a smile not noticing anything else at first. I saw Lanie smile at his choice of words but I didn't say anything about how he called his place my home.

"Captain, how did the women drag you along?" Rick asked as he finally spotted the Captain.

"My wife went with the kids to visit her mother today so I was on my own. I decided to go out to dinner and I ran into the ladies at Anthony's. Kate invited me to join you all for dinner. Hope you don't mind."

"Not at all, here let me take your coat," he offered before hanging it in the closet.

Soon, the women were all settled in the kitchen as I gathered plates and silverware for dinner as the boys were in the living room playing their video games. They had been so immersed that they never even realized that we had gotten there. Lanie, Jenny and I just laughed and knew that the look on their faces was going to be priceless.

"So Kate, you look awfully comfortable here," Lanie said.

"I do stay here occasionally," I said.

"Often enough for Castle to call this your home?"

"Yeah, well, that's just Castle for you," I said trying to deflect the conversation a bit. Luckily the doorbell came to my aid. I answered the door, not even realizing at first that this just confirmed to Lanie how often I was here. I put the lasagna on the table and opened it up, knowing that the smell would soon pull Rick from the game.

"Watch this," I said softly to the ladies with me. Moments later we watched as Rick's head perked up, he sniffed, then hopped up to join us.

"Why are you all laughing at me?"

"No reason, Rick," I smiled.

"Need any help?" he asked.

"Just get everyone to the table," I said as I put the garlic bread on the table.

He moved to the center of the great room and called out, "Dinner from Antonio's! Lasagna and garlic bread!" Suddenly there was a flurry of activity from the other room and upstairs.

"When did you get here?" Esposito asked Lanie when he spotted her.

"Some detective you are," she replied sarcastically.

"I don't think either of them noticed that I was here either and I was sitting on the chair beside them," Captain Montgomery said.

"We knew you were there, sir," Ryan said but it didn't convince anyone.

"By the way, Beckett…. you didn't tell us he was a decorating fiend," Esposito complained.

"Sorry," I smiled at them. "I think you'll like what was purchased in your absence though." I went over and pulled out a wrapped package for them. "You have to wait until later to open it."

We enjoyed our dinner and had fun chatting about what we had done all day. I knew the boys were practically itching to open the package which was video game sized. We decided to take pity on them and let them open it before dessert.

"Cool. Thanks Beckett," Ryan said as Esposito nodded in agreement. They then disappeared to the other room to play followed by the Captain.

"Boys," Lanie and Jenny said simultaneously. They realized if they wanted to spend any time with them they would need to go watch them so they followed. Rick gave me a hug before leading me to the kitchen alone.

"So did you have a good day?" he asked.

"Very good. Before I met up with your mom and Alexis, I went to the bookstore and got some books. Then Martha and I had a nice talk."

"That's good. By the way, have you decided if you are going to tell them or not?"

"No," I said much to his disappointment. "No, I haven't decided yet. I need to talk to Montgomery first though."

"By the way you didn't say anything about the loft. You like?"

"It looks wonderful, Mr. I Need Praise." I kissed him and pulled back before we forgot about our guests.

"I had Mom pick something up for you today," Rick told me.

"What's that?"

"I'll show you later, unless you want me to get it now and let everyone see it."

"Maybe later then," I smiled. "Even though Lanie suspects something. She says that I am far too comfortable here."

"There is nothing wrong with that. It's your home now, too," he said quietly as he caressed my cheek.

"I love you, Rick. Go ahead and get it."

He didn't have to go far, he just reached into a cabinet and handed me a small bag. I opened it up to find a Christmas stocking with 'Kate' embroidered on it.

"This is beautiful, thank you. It matches the ones you have," I said as I looked over to the fireplace.

"Of course it matches. You're family now. There is an extra hanger there when you want to hang it up."

I think I surprised him when I slipped out of his arms and went to hang it right then. I found the hanger and put my stocking in the empty spot beside his. Lanie noticed me but didn't say anything again. I lightly tapped the captain on his shoulder and asked if we could talk real quick.

"Sure, Kate." I led the way to Rick's office.

"Captain, I need to see about pulling desk duty for a while."

"I thought the doctor said you were fine," he said concerned.

"He did, sir."

"Any particular reason then, Detective?"

"I would rather not say, sir. Not right yet."

He just looked at me and I could tell he was thinking about why I suddenly wanted to give up going into the field, which he knew I loved.

"Very well. You need to talk, about anything, Kate, you know where I am."

I nodded at him and walked back to the kitchen where Rick was starting on getting dessert ready.

"I talked to Montgomery about desk duty. I think he knows why though," I said quietly to Rick.

"He's a smart man," Rick said.

"Should we go ahead and tell them?" I asked nervously.

"Sweetheart, you were the one that wanted to wait until later to tell them."

"I know, I just. What if something happens?"

"If something does happen, then they will be supportive just like always."

"You're right," I said as I pulled him into a hug.

"I'm right? You actually said I'm right? This calls for a celebration. Dessert for everyone!"

"What are you yelling about, Castle?" Lanie said as she walked into the kitchen.

"She said I was right!"

"What were you right about?"

"That you all will be supportive of her and us," he said suddenly serious.

"Of course, we will but remember we can hurt you and not leave evidence if you hurt her," Lanie said. Esposito, Ryan and Montgomery all nodded behind her.

"I know, and yet I still asked her to move in," he said as he winked at me.

"You asked her to move in?" Lanie exclaimed. "And you agreed?"

We both nodded starting lots of congratulations and talk.

"I'm going to need your guys help with some boxes and such," I said to Ryan and Esposito. "I'll pack them but I won't be able to carry them."

"Why not, your arms broke?" asked Esposito.

"Well, I got a shot in one and splinters in the other." Kate said.

"Does this have anything to do with you wanting to take desk duty?" Montgomery asked giving a somewhat evil look to Rick.

"You asked for desk duty?" Esposito asked.

"What about our team?" asked Ryan.

"Nothing's going to happen to our team. I'll still do the interviews and all, I just won't be going out in the field."

"Let me get this straight, girlfriend. You are taking desk duty, you can't lift boxes. What are you, pregnant?" Then she looked at Castle and he nodded slightly.

"Yes."

"What?" she exclaimed. I nodded then was pulled into a hug for a quick moment before she pulled away then turned to Castle.

"You going to make an honest woman out of her Castle?" Lanie asked as Esposito crossed his arms and practically glowered at Rick.

"Don't worry, he already asked," I assured them as I pulled my rings off my necklace.

"That's your mother's ring," Lanie commented.

"Yes, and Rick had this one made to fit with it."

"Castle, come over here and lets have a little talk," Esposito said as he Ryan and Montgomery walked over to Rick's office.

"Poor guy," I smirked. "My dad had a little talk with him last night too."

"So, girlfriend, spill. I want details."

"Lanie, you were talking about getting Esposito a tie for your one month anniversary when I realized that I had missed something. I bought a test the other day and lo and behold, it was positive."

"I thought you knew how to prevent that sort of thing."

"I do," I blushed a bit. "We just, um, didn't think about that once."

"How exactly did you two finally get together?" Jenny asked.

"After the 3XK killer hurt Ryan and left Rick I realized how upset I would be if something happened to him. Once the case was wrapped up, I'll just say one thing led to another. I found out about the baby Wednesday."

"So that was the gift you had for him, Kate," Lanie said with a smile.

"Yeah. He proposed later that night. Nice, simple and very romantic."

"So have you set a date yet?" Jenny asked.

"Not yet. But it will be small and private. Just family and close friends."

"Well, if there is anything I can do to help, just let me know," Jenny offered.

"I swear, you guys were worse than her dad," Rick said as he walked back into the kitchen.

"Good, she's like a sister to me," Esposito said.

"To us," Ryan interjected.

"I know. That's why I want her brothers to stand up with me when we get married," Rick said.

"Both of us?" Esposito asked

"Sure, why not?"

"Cool."

"And when will the wedding be?" Lanie asked.

"We haven't decided that yet," Rick said as he wrapped one arm around me.

"Whenever it is, it will be small, only family and close friends," I stated.

"And we are all going to be there, right?" Esposito asked with a smile to Ryan.

"Bro, how long am I going to have to apologize for that?" Ryan pleaded.

"So, Kate. What kind of wedding do you want?" Rick asked later when everyone else had left for the night.

"Something small. I thought we decided on that already."

"We did, but I want our wedding to be perfect for you. What you always wanted. If you want a big fairy tale wedding, I will take care of the publicity."

"I know you would," I squeezed his hand. "When I was a little girl, I had my wedding all planned out. The big poofy dress, arriving in a horse drawn carriage, my dad giving me away."

"We can do all that if you want," he said quietly as I shook my head.

"No, my matron of honor was going to be my mom."

"Oh, Kate," he pulled me into his arms and held me tightly.

"It's okay, Rick. How about we just have the small wedding then sometime after the honeymoon we can have a big party to officially announce it?"

"That sounds great, there's just one thing."

"What's that?"

"I can deal with not seeing your dress until the wedding but do I have to not see you the day of? I like waking up with you," he pouted.

"Rick," I shook my head at him. "I like waking up with you too but just for one day, I think we can live."

"If you insist. You know I was thinking..."

"Oh no!" I joked noticing his big smile.

"I have an idea."

* * *

_Rick has an idea, be afraid! LOL! Sorry for the cliffhanger but I'll post the next part in the next couple of days. Also, I should be posting a new story in a few days also. I am almost finished with it but I will be waiting until it is all done before I post it. Would anyone be interested in doing a beta check for me first though? Thanks!_


	14. Chapter 14

Author's Notes: Here is the end of Rick and Kate's story. There will eventually be at least two more stories in this universe, a Jenny and Kevin Ryan story and a Lanie/Esposito story. I haven't finished those stories though so they might be a little bit since I am working on another story right now also. I would again like to thank the people who reviewed the story, especially the following: AliasCSINYFriendsER, Little Popcorn, Restless Goddess, Dee Hensley, gmay, Nheath12, Winter-Sama, and BeckettNYPD.

Oh and before I forget, I still don't own anything Castle other than a copy of Heat Wave. All characters etc belong to others, not me.

* * *

Chapter 14

The Christmas Party at the Castle Place, Rick's POV

"Merry Christmas Eve," I greeted Lanie and Esposito after they rang the doorbell.

"Merry Christmas Eve to you too," Esposito said as he took Lanie's coat, revealing her stunning red dress.

"Thank you, Castle. The dress is beautiful."

"You are very welcome. Kate and Alexis went shopping for dresses for tonight and Kate said this would great on you. She was right, you look wonderful."

I smiled at the slight frown crossing Esposito's face as I hung their jackets up.

"What can I get you, Detective, Doctor?" I questioned him as I saw Kate walk towards us.

"A beer."

"Red wine."

"Lanie you look great! As do you Esposito," Kate said in greeting.

"You look pretty hot too, girlfriend," Lanie said commenting on Kate's emerald green dress.

"Thank you. Wanna officially meet James Patterson?" Kate asked with a grin.

"Seriously?" Lanie asked as the doorbell rang. "I didn't get a chance to say more than hi when I met him before." I reached for the door and welcomed Jim Beckett to the loft.

"Dad," Kate smiled as she gave him a hug.

"I'll introduce you both to him," I said giving a few minutes of private time to Kate and her Dad.

I grabbed the drinks for my friends the headed over to the living room to introduce them.

"Rick, nice party so far. Hi, James Patterson."

"Lanie Parrish," she said slightly blushing. I was going to have fun about that later.

"Excuse me a moment," I said as the bell rang again. Kate was still at the door so she opened it. It was Gina. Part of me wanted to see how this was going to play out and the rest of me just wanted to go smooth over any ruffled feathers. And looking at Gina, there were plenty of ruffled feathers.

"Welcome Gina. May I take your coat?" she started to remove it as I leaned to whisper to Kate, "Lanie is blushing over Patterson."

"Excuse us," Kate smiled as she and her dad went over to Lanie.

"Richard. Why is she opening the door at _your_ Christmas party?"

"Because she was closer," I said knowing that was just going to annoy her more.

"People are going to assume she is your hostess and therefore your girlfriend if she answers the door."

"Did you not read the paper the other day?" She shook her head no. I saw no reason to inform her that Paula had finally released the statement that Kate and I were officially dating. "Besides people have always assumed that we were together. Her opening a door she is close to isn't going to make any difference."

"You seriously don't think that having Nikki Heat open the door at your big Christmas Eve party for all the big wigs isn't going to cause talk."

"For one thing Gina, we've dealt with plenty of talk before and second," my voice dropped. "Her name is Kate Beckett, not Nikki Heat. Don't make that mistake again."

"So are you dating her?" she asked surprised.

"You really should read the press releases for your authors. Besides what does it matter if we are dating?"

"I just can't believe you finally admitted it to yourself."

She walked off to make rounds and get a drink as mother headed toward me.

"So how did that go, kiddo?"

"Okay. Somehow she never saw the press release."

"Why don't you go be with Kate? I'll answer the door."

"Thanks Mother," I smiled as I made my way back to Kate's side.

Kate and I were both pleased that the party was going well. The press statement that Paula released the other day had obviously done its job. People knew we were together now but it wasn't the only topic of conversation. I should have known things were going a little too well when my mother called to make a toast.

"I would like everyone to raise their glass for a toast. To a very special couple who recently tied the knot." Some people spun around to look at Kate and I standing arm in arm with our glasses of sparkling apple cider raised. Lanie and Esposito and the Ryan's looked a bit hurt, and Gina looked down right pissed.

"They were married two months ago in Las Vegas and haven't had the chance for an official reception yet, so let me be one of the first to congratulate Kevin and Jenny Ryan."

Congratulations were passed to the happy couple as Esposito and Lanie turned to us.

"I swear, bro, I thought she was going to say it was you."

"I don't know why Mother did that. We told you, you will be here. We promise," I assured them as I noticed Gina practically storming her way over to us. "Excuse me."

"Richard, did you have Martha do that just to torment me?"

"No, that was just a bonus," I smiled. "Ryan and Jenny got married right after that big serial killer case and they never had the chance to have a reception yet so Mother thought this would be a nice way to acknowledge them."

"So she had to imply that it was you just for fun?" she fumed as she headed to the door.

"You know my mother. I can't control her," I said with humor.

"I don't know how serious you think you are with Kate but please be sure to tell me before you go off to Vegas or do something stupid."

"Kate really isn't the Vegas type, Gina," I said.

"You know what I mean Richard," she said exasperated.

"Why would it matter to you what I do anyway? We are not longer married."

"I'm still your publisher and I need to know how to handle the publicity of things before it leaks to the press."

"Yet you never even noticed the press release about Kate and I being together. Don't worry Gina. I don't plan on doing anything stupid," I said as I helped her into her coat.

The party was starting to wind down when Kate finally had the chance to come up to me about 15 minutes later.

"So what did Gina say?"

"Just that I need to tell her what's going on before I do anything stupid. I told her not to worry." I looked around and lowered my voice. "This thing with you is far from stupid so we can just tell her later."

"Good. It's about eleven so I better get going." Kate gave me a quick kiss and said "See you in a little while, Mr. Castle."

"See you in a little while, Miss Beckett." Even though she didn't let me get away with many kisses at the precinct, she didn't seem to mind nearly as much if I kissed her in public as long as it wasn't too much. "I'll send Alexis up and see if I can clear out this riff raff."

I didn't want to offend anyone but I did want said riff raff to be gone by midnight. Kate and I had discussed that we wanted Christmas day to be amongst close friends only. I saw Alexis talking with James Patterson over by the tree and knowing that she would eventually forgive me, I called out to her.

"Alexis, it's eleven o'clock on Christmas Eve. Don't you know that Santa can't leave presents for good boys and girls if they don't go to sleep?"

"Maybe for good boys and girls, Castle, but that sure leaves you out!" Patterson said with a smile. Alexis said good night to Patterson and his wife then, after giving me a kiss on the cheek, she excused herself to go upstairs.

Rick said goodbyes to most of the people that were lingering but occasionally asked some people to stay a bit to say goodnight to Kate. Soon it was a much smaller gathering of just family and close friends.

"Castle, it's just about midnight, Javi and I wanted to see about leaving. When will Kate be down?"

"She should be down in just a few. Jim, could you go check on Kate?"

Jim smiled and nodded at me then went upstairs. My daughter soon reappeared and smiled her Castle smile at me. I watched her as she picked up the camera then head over to Jenny and then a few other people also with cameras. I watched as she surreptitiously moved certain people into places that she wanted them to be. My daughter definitely had the Castle charm and knew how to use it. I smiled as the clock finally struck midnight.

"Merry Christmas everyone."

"Merry Christmas," various people responded.

"Where's my girl, Castle?" Lanie asked. "We need to get going."

"She'll be right down," I said with a smile.

"You okay, Castle? You've been acting kinda weird," commented Esposito.

"I'm fine," my smile just got bigger.

"Oh my, God," Lanie commented looking behind me to the stairs.

I turned to see Kate and her father walk downstairs arm in arm. She was wearing a long white dress, her mother's dress. It was very simple yet beautiful and perfect for Kate. I barely noticed the flashes from the camera and I was entranced by how extraordinary she was. Jim walked Kate over to me at the Christmas tree with just the soft Christmas music playing in the background. My friend Judge Markway finally broke the silence.

"Dearly beloved…"

_NY Ledger July 5th 2011_

_Richard Castle and wife Katherine Beckett-Castle had fireworks of their own yesterday when they welcomed a baby girl, Johanna into their family. Mother and child are doing fine. Daddy insists his concussion is mild and he will once again be ruggedly handsome as soon as the stitches are removed._

**The End** (of this part of the story.)


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